


The Hunter and The Crane

by TrashYatt



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Magic, lonashipping, snowlillyshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 00:17:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 87,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16439552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashYatt/pseuds/TrashYatt
Summary: Gladion recentily turned 20, but had been pestered by Lillie and their mother for a few years, asking why he didn't have a significant other yet. He didn't like that they kept bringing it up, and never did anything about it. Lillie joked about it once, telling him that his SO might be in a different region, which he scoffed at. Battling loneliness for years after living alone, he woke up after a strange voice in a dream, which made him take the first step towards a different region. Kanto. Getting there was easy, what he would be doing? He didn't know, much less, he wasn't looking for anything, at least not until he saw a girl passing him in Celadon City.





	1. The Beginning

The different clans in the world were once at war against each other, but the war subsided when a female came forth to the different warlords, proposing a new way of life, where everyone could live in peace and harmony. The female were of the well known Crane tribe, that lived in the bamboo forest in Kanto, on the border to Jotho. The clan itself were quite hidden, and had quite the mysterious aura around them. The clan were also widely known to be quite peaceful in their ways, as well as their healing techniques were quite sought after in the different clans around the world. Many of the warlords agreed on the proposal if the female, but for it to fully go through, the female would have to marry one of the warlords, whoever they deemed fit. She agreed, but she added a condition to it.

_ My clan will scatter, and be hard to locate for the coming generations. Only a chosen one form each clan would be able to be deemed fit for a female Crane. You will even never know if she’s a Crane until the day of their vows. _

Many of the warlords didn’t take it to heart, thinking that she were joking and agreed blindly. The female then told them that she would wait in a well known city, waiting for their decision, as she would never reveal her home village within the bamboo forest. It took a few days until the warlords met up, and the discussion started. The hours started with a lot of insults being thrown across the room, a few fights with their sitting neighbor. The youngest of the warlords were sitting there, watching his seniors fight and throw insults, already knowing that there wouldn’t be any agreement between the many regions. He sat there calmly, observing the loot as they kept on going. His mind were fixed on one thing, and it was the female.

The female had captured him with her beauty. Her soft spoken voice, her grey eyes, her long black hair and her soft smile. He fully well knew that he had to thread carefully while being with the other lords, being the youngest one, his words weren’t as ‘important’ or ‘wise’. For every meeting there was, he would try and give his opinion on everything, but were brushed off for being young. Because of that, he would leave the meeting, leaving the other lords to themselves, as they would not notice he left. For the few times, he occasionally met the female Crane, and were gobsmacked every time by her beauty. The female noticed it every time, as he would start to stammer in his speech. She would giggle softly and invite him to accompany her, her intentions were to get to know him, for future references. The few occasional meetings became more, him telling her about his region and how the culture were working there. The Crane would do the same, but being quite cautious about what she said, leaving her home village in the shadows, keeping it hidden from the outside worlds. 

He got to know her, and she had a lot of good points about the war, it being quite useless. She told him that she didn’t want the world to end in disaster, as of why she came forth with a proposal that she figured would benefit every region. Trading, selling and exchanging resources between the regions would benefit everyone, knowing that in the past, there were a lot of clans and tribes that would visit a different region, only for a specific item. In Kanto and Jotho, it was silk, and silk fabric.

_ Why did you agree to the marriage offer some of them put on you? _ He asked her, not really expecting a reply.

The Crane smiled softly.  _ If that makes it easier, then so be it. As well as my tribe is well known for our healing magic. _

The man looked at her with big eyes, clearly surprised.  _ Healing magic? Isn’t that type of magic...dead?  _

The crane giggled softly and nodded.  _ In most clans and tribes, you focus more on the offensive part of magic. My tribe focused on the healing kind, knowing it would come in handy in the future. _ She said and looked around in the street they were sitting in. A soft sigh escaped her as she hung her head.  _ Seems like it will now be lost forever. _

He hung his head as well for a brief second, only to look over at her profile, clearly seeing sadness in her eyes. He didn’t reply to it, as it was as true as it could get. Most clans and tribes were focusing on attack or defence magic, leaving the wounded behind to die. Being lost in thought, he flinched out of it when he felt her hand on his, abruptly meeting her eyes.

_ It’s fine. If it means i can, one way or another, stop this war, even for a few years, i will do so. _ She said, giving him a sweet smile.

He nodded and gave a soft hum in response, feeling terrible that she took the burden on stopping the war on her shoulders. He cleared his throat and got up on his feet, fixing his armor slightly, telling her that he should go back to the meeting with the others, hoping that no one of them had killed each other. The Crane smiled softly at him, and got up on her feet as well, standing in front of him and bowed deeply before turning her back at him, walking away. The lord watched her walk off for a brief second before he, himself, turned around, heading towards the entrance and into the meeting with the others again.

What he didn’t know, was that there was one watching him and had kept an eye on the young warlord. He had noticed that the young lord had left the meeting occasionally, and were starting to wonder why, only to see him with the Crane, talking. It was mostly casual talk about their region and how they have been living there, with the different traditions, getting to know each other. Once the young lord got into the room again, the loot were fighting, verbally, as usual when he sat down in his seat. As he sat down, placing his sword on the floor beside him, he kept watching them, looking around at the elders, listening carefully on what they were saying and who they were insulting. The man who had watched the young lord talking to the Crane walked in, sitting down in his seat. He cleared his throat, loudly, gaining everyone’s attention.

_ Now...I believe it’s time to get to an agreement. Am i right? _ He said, looking around at the others, his eyes narrow and cautions on every move they would make. They all nodded and straightened up their posture.

_ I have noticed that the female Crane is quite young, so who is up to woo her. I’m certain that she won’t like any of us...old men...so to speak. _ He said, giving the young lord a smirk. The young lord swallowed thickly, not liking what he heard, nor where the conversation probably would be going. 

They all talked over it, rather calmly and collected, but everyone ended up looking at the young lord of the group. His eyes wide as saucers as he looked around at the loot.  _ Are...Are you indicating that i should marry her?! _ He exclaimed loudly.

_ And why not? You are the youngest of us all, and have more years to live than any of us _ . One of the elders said, nodding.  _ Of course, we are all old and would end up in the grave eventually. _

_ I would most likely never see my children with the woman.  _ Another said. 

Most of the others were nodding, agreeing that it would be the best case scenario for everyone. They get their peace in the regions, while the female Crane is wedded to one of them, keeping the peace as long as she lived, and hopefully that her future generations will keep it peacefully. The young lord were sitting there in a panicked state, his face a red as it could be. Never in a million years would he have thought that it would come to him, just because of his young age, but he didn’t complain and agreed. As much as he didn’t want to force the Crane onto him, he didn’t have any choice, as well as the Crane had put herself up on the offer, so she didn’t have any reason to refuse. For the rest of that meeting, the young lord were sitting in silence, panicking to himself as of what he would be saying to the female. For the first time, the elders around in the room were calmly talking and discussing different things, and it seemed that they were getting along quite well.

For a few more hours that day, the young lord were sitting in the room, alone, scripting on what he should tell the female when he were going to find her. His thoughts were disrupted when a maid of the Inn they were having the meeting in, opened the door, seeing him sitting there. She excused herself, telling him that she didn’t know that he were still around. He said it was fine, and that he were about to leave. He got his sword, and got up on his feet, walking out of the room, and the Inn, walking out to the street. It had started to get dark, the sun slowly going down behind the mountain he was looking up at. A sigh escaped him as he started to walk off, not sure where to go, but had to move to keep his mind going.

Walking around in the city, he came to an overlook, looking over the sea. Inhaling the seabreeze, it slightly calmed him down, at least enough to start thinking on finding the Crane. Not noticing that she had approached him, she gave him a poke on his shoulder, which made him flinch and turn around, drawing his sword at her. She didn’t move as he pointed the sword at her, but quickly lowered it to the ground as he saw who it was. 

_ Oh, it’s you...I’m sorry. _ He said and lowered his sword, putting it into it’s shaft. 

She gave him a soft smile.  _ It’s quite alright. You were quite busy with your own thoughts as it seemed. _

He nodded and hummed softly as a reply to her. Straightened up his pose, he cleared his throat and looked to the side, the blush that had subdued a little earlier came right back to his cheeks. The Crane asked if the meeting went well, to which he nodded at, swallowing thickly. 

_ I feel ridiculous for not asking this earlier at some point...but...What’s your name? _ He asked, looking over at her, seeing a soft and gentle smile across her lips. 

_ Asking for a name without giving your own? _ She said, the smile on her lips still lingering around, the gentleness in her eyes showing greatly.

_ I go by Solgaleo. Family and friends in my clan calls me either Sol or Leo. _ He replied, his voice sounding quite stern and harsh without him really noticing it, nor realizing it. He waited patiently for her reply, looking at her as she kept being silent, probably debating with herself if she would use a fake name, or her real name. Growing impatient, he were about to ask her again what her name was, only for her to tell him.

_ Lunala _ . She said to him, looking straight into his eyes.

_ Lunala. _ He parroted and lightly nodded. He sighed lightly and closed his eyes briefly before looking up at her again, reaching for her hands, taking them in his, holding them gently. She just watched him, waiting for something but couldn’t tell what it would be.

_ Lunala...Will you do me the honor...Of becoming my wife? _

He said it as flatly as possible, and she just looked at him with big eyes, her hands still gently, but tightly in his. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze to the side, a deep red blush creeping onto his face. She gained a light shade of pink on her cheeks, smiling softly and couldn’t help but to feel quite honored to be asked, and not forced into it.

_ I will _ . She calmly replied, the soft smile present on her lips.

As he looked over at her again, she leaned up, locking their lips softly. It surprised him at first, but quickly calmed down and leaned into the kiss himself. Breaking the kiss, their foreheads touched. 

_ A deal is a deal. _ She said and looked up at him, meeting his eyes. Her eyes now a light carnation of purple. He stared wide eyed at her, not sure if he had completely missed the purple hue in her eyes, or if it had just appeared. She smiled softly at him.

_ No turning back now. _


	2. Present Day

Lillie were quite interested in the old stories, and kept re-reading them, finding them quite intriguing and a good way to get some advice for ‘love’. At least that’s how she saw it. Gladion didn’t know why she was so into the stories, as they were just old tales, fairy tales even. He for sure didn’t believe anything that were told in them. Lusamine were just happy that Lillie found it interesting, despite that the story is thousands of years old. The Kahuna’s, the leaders of the 5 different tribes in Alola, kept praising Solgaleo for stopping the war, despite the story fully going with that it was Lunala who were the first to do anything about it. Being thousands of years in the future, the tribes and clans were living peacefully, and had gotten many new traditions with the years.

As the many centuries passed, it became a common practice that once a boy turned 16, he was on his own. He could still live with his parents, but they wouldn’t do anything for him, from cooking to regular work. He could ask for advice, but that was about it. The girls would stay at home until they found a suitable man and would eventually move out when that happens. It was quite important for the boy to at least have a place of his own after a while, and fully move out of their parents place by turning 17. Gladion had lived on his own for at least four years, and Lillie would visit him, alongside Hau.

Lillie would keep asking him on when he would find himself a girlfriend, and possibly a future wife, being 20, it was quite weird being single, at least around these times. Gladion kept ignoring the subject for years, but both Lillie and Lusamine would keep on pestering him about it, and once he turned 20, he snarled at them.

«Fine! I’ll leave the region! Just leave me alone!» he snarled at them both.

The two were at his place, and had started to mention it, as well as telling him that the girl he’s ‘waiting for’ might be in a different region. Gladion just rolled his eyes and just let them talk.

«Think about it! Solgaleo found his Lunala in Kanto after all….Or was it Jotho?» she said, looking over at Lusamine. Lusamine just shrugged, as she haven’t really been reading the stories as much as Lillie.

«I highly doubt that, but whatever...I’ll leave.» he hissed.

«Maybe your future girlfriend even is from the Crane tribe.» Lillie said, giving him a smirk.

«I highly doubt that as well...That clan died out a long time ago.» he said, shifting his position in the chair he was sitting in.

Lillie huffed and puffed her cheeks a little in annoyance. «You never know, brother...you never know.»

Gladion just rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly. Lillie were at his place on Ula’Ula Island to kill some time before she were going to meet up with Hau, as it seemed like he had something important to tell her. Gladion had a hunch as of what he were going to tell her, and were sure that Lusamine knew about it, as he had asked her something a few weeks prior. Lusamine clapped her hands and got up from the chair, as well as Lillie got up from the chair.

«I’ll be taking my leave.» she said and looked over at Lillie. «Should i wait with you until Hau arrives?» she asked her.

«It’s fine mother. I’ll be fine, as well as there is usually always people around at the entrance with Malie Garden.» Lillie replied.

Lusamine nodded. «Alright. If you say so.» She looked over at Gladion, who were sitting there, not looking to pleased after the conversation they have had. «You take care as well, and please...Let me know whenever you are leaving and for what region.» she said.

Gladion sighed. «Fine.» he replied and slightly rolled his eyes.

Lusamine then nodded again and gave Lillie a nod, gesturing to her that they would be leaving. Gladion kept sitting there, watching the two walk out of the door, closing it behind them, and hear them chat as they walked off. He gave another deep sigh and hung his head, growling to himself.

_I really don’t want to do anything...Much less...Leave._

Laying his head down onto the table, he looked around the room, sulking. His place were of a moderate size, as he didn’t want anything small, nor anything massive like his mother’s house. He didn’t use the whole house either, only the main floor, where everything he needed were. Sitting up and leaning back in the chair, he noticed that Lillie had forgotten the book she brought with her. Out of curiosity, he reached for it, and took a look at the cover.

He gave a soft chuckle, as it was typical of his sister to drag a long a book of the old war that happened thousands of years ago. He opened the book, and started to read it, out of sheer curiosity. It started just as Lillie had told him, the different warlords being pissed at the other regions, as they had resources that they, themselves, could benefit from. The war even lasted a couple of generations. Turning the page, he could see a few images of the warlords from that time, and the youngest of them, Solgaleo, who apparently had the most responsibility at the time, wooing a female he had, most likely, just met.

_The Crane Maiden._

There was a little information about each of the warlords, but as he turned the page again, the picture of a female appeared. She were wearing a white Kimono like outfit, with dark blue markings, as well as a red spot on each of the long sleeves on the arms. Her hair the typical dark color of every Kantonese and Jothonese, dark as the night sky. The picture were quite faded, so he couldn’t tell which color her eyes were, but he guessed it would either be black or blue, as they were the most common eye colors in Kanto, beside brown, which appeared occasionally.

Gladion turned the page again, and went on reading about each of the warlords, where they were born, what family they were born in and who their family were. As many of them were up in the ages, there wasn’t much about their families, other than they were considered royalty in each region, and treated as is. It wasn’t until he came over Solgaleo’s heritage chart that it looked a bit more interesting. He and his wife, Lunala, got six children. Three sets of twins. They ended up in different regions, one of them ending up in Alola, being the ancestor for the Aether family. Reading more about how Lunala’s and Solgaleo’s life started after their wedding were sounding quite sweet.

She did it out of promise, but as he kept reading about it, it slowly became something more for her. In the end, she ended up loving the clumsy dork that Solgaleo were, or rather, portrayed as. Ending the history of his, Gladion turned the page over again, starting on Lunala’s history. There wasn’t much from her past, as the quote that were written told him that she would never speak of her past, nor her family back in her home village. It was common practice for her clan, and thus, kept it as is. Something caught his attention while looking at the family chart of hers, which was that, of all the six kids they had, only one of them were a girl. Out of six children, five of them were boys. Wondering what happened to her, he turned the page again, expecting to see more of their heritage, but found nothing as he kept looking for it.

He sighed and stopped at a random page in the middle of the book, which the title read about the future of the Crane tribe. Depending on if there was born a girl in the family, where the woman was of the Crane tribe, the young girl would start her own adventure when she turned thirteen, wandering around the regions to search for a place of her own. Where she ended up or what she would end up doing were unknown. Thinking about it, Gladion could remember a few news from a few years ago that told about someone getting married, only to get surprised by his to-be wife being from the Crane tribe.

Looking down at the page again, he searched for what would give it away, letting everyone know that they were from the Crane tribe.

Reading it up, he found something that give him a little of an idea what would happen. Most of the text on the page being quite cryptic and hard to understand, but he at least got the point of it.

_You won’t be able to see if she’s a Crane until the day of your vows._

Sitting back in the chair, he crossed his arms, looking at the page. _How can someone even tell if they are from the Crane tribe anyway? Is there something specific on their outfit on their wedding day? Something they say? Something they do? Is there no other way to tell if they are from that tribe at all?_

Pondering about it, there wasn’t really any answer to it, other than just let it be, or find someone within the tribe and ask, which was most likely impossible anyway, already knowing that you won’t know if they are from the tribe at all before at the wedding day. He panicked when there was a knock on the front door, making him slam the book shut and quickly push it to the side. He pushed it so hard to the side that it fell off the table. He got up from the chair, cursing silently to himself as he picked the book up, and placed it on the table again, before walking over to the door, opening it. On the other side were a bunch of girls, or at least, there was a bunch of girls.

He had gotten quite a few of those ‘ding-dong-ditchers’ within the last few months. The only difference from his ‘ditchers’ was that they were, at most, two years younger than him, and he fully knew that they just wanted his attention. He growled to himself and closed the door and walked over to the kitchen, grabbing something quick to eat. Snacking on an apple, he walked into the room at the end of the hallway, entering and found a bag, thinking on packing it, at least a little, before he fully decided to leave Alola, exploring a different region. As he packed, there was a few more knocks on the door, though, he didn’t bother to open it, as he could hear the girls on the other side giggle and whispering between them.

The girls kept on knocking on the door, which made him even more irritated, and eager to leave the region. In the end, they eventually stopped, as he could hear them starting to sulk and be disappointed that he didn’t give them any attention.

 _Tch...Girls..._ He thought and tossed a few shirts and pants into the bag.

Living alone for years had made him quite the antisocial one, as he didn’t like to interact with people unless he absolutely needed to. Which ended up him staying, mostly inside, but as well around his place, at least whenever there wasn’t any people around to ask him stuff or where he had been, knowing that the answer he would give them, would most likely concern them.

_I have been at home all the time...I have just been inside._

People felt bad, but after a while, they stopped asking, and he almost completely stopped showing himself outside, which was probably why the girls wanted his attention anyway. Making sure that he was around and not some ghost lingering around to scare people, that the others around the place had told them. At least the Kahuna of Ula’Ula didn’t care one bit, and were quite antisocial himself, but would occasionally pay Gladion a visit, out of concern from some of the others around the island.

The only time there would be any life around his place were whenever Guzma came around with his gang, having a party and trashing the place. At least his friend; Plumeria, would make sure that they didn’t set the place on fire, as Guzma had done that to his place a few times, ending up burning the entire place down at some point. At least he were busy these days, building his place up again after the last time he managed to set it on fire, which made Gladion relieved. He could finally have the peace and quiet he wanted, without the gang of his being overly loud, as well as Guzma himself, being the loudest of them all. Zipping the bag shut, he placed it on a chair beside the door in his bedroom, looking around the room a little, thinking.

_Maybe i should leave Alola and explore the different regions?_

He sighed and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him and walked out to the living room. Looking around a little, he decided to take a quick walk across the shore of Tapu Village. The village that had been in ruins for years, but had for the last two decades started to be built up again, letting people move in. Getting shoes on, and finding a jacket, as it could get quite chilly when the evening started to creep on, and when the sun started to go down the horizon. Getting out of his place, he walked over to Route 14, it being a black beach.

Walking across the black beach, just watching the horizon as the sun were slowly settling in. Standing there, he suddenly heard a few soft giggles behind him, but didn’t bother to turn around, already knowing who it was. Continuing to walk, he ended up at the abandoned building at the end of the beach, taking a ‘shortcut’ back to Tapu Village, not wanting to confront the group of girls that were following him. He could hear them get confused when they didn’t see where he walked off, looking around themselves, thinking that they had missed him or something. Gladion just shaked his head, continuing back to his place.

_Not the longest walk, but it’ll do. If just people would stop pestering me..._


	3. The Hunter

Getting into his place again, he quickly closed and locked the door, sighing loudly. He stood in front of the door, and the feeling of loneliness came over him. It was quite the common occurrence for him to feel lonely at times, but the feeling became even worse with time as well, the feeling of missing someone to be around, that someone he knew he had to find himself, but didn’t really know where to start looking. He were sure that he definitely wouldn’t look in Alola, being quite tired of the whole region anyway, and by looking at Hau and Lillie from time to time, he couldn’t cringe more. He could fully see that the two were made for each other, and it was always so ‘sweet’ between them, which was a big ‘no-no’ for him, at least whenever he were around them.

«Maybe i should travel after all.» he muttered to himself, still standing in front of the front door, looking around.

He sighed loudly again, shaking his head as he took off the jacket and shoes, walking into the living room, not sure what he would be doing in there, other than to start reading a book, which was something he wasn’t too fond of. Doing a 180 turn in the doorway, he got into the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water, gulping it down in one go. Putting the glass down, he took a quick look outside the window, seeing that it had already gotten quite dark. He shrugged and just walked out of the kitchen, down the hallway over to the bedroom. Opening the window slightly, as to let in some air while sleeping, he decided to just get some sleep, if possible. His mind were racing, as the loneliness kept looming over him.

He quickly got out of his clothes and into his PJ pants, closing the curtains, as he surely didn’t want anyone to look at him while sleeping. He sat down on the edge of the bed, sighting softly as he looked behind him a little, looking at the empty spot on the bed. He shaked his head and crawled under the covers, getting comfortable, laying on his back while looking up at the ceiling, his eyes slowly getting used to the darkness, before the moon decided to light it up a little. He took a quick look over at the empty spot beside him, but quickly averted his gaze away, looking over at the half packed bag of his on the chair, sitting beside the door. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling again for a few seconds before closing his eyes, trying to get some sleep before his mind for overboard.

Laying quite comfortably, he could hear the seagulls shriek, and feel the soft sea breeze gently tickle his skin. He could hear some chatter around him, but he didn’t bother to open his eyes to take a look. Without opening his eyes, he sat up, feeling the sand under his palm and between his fingers. It became silent all of a sudden, and the feeling of emptiness and loneliness crept on slowly, forming a heavy lump in his chest and throat. He couldn’t hear, nor sense anyone getting close to him, but he could feel hands on his cheeks, lifting his head up slightly. Slowly opening his eyes, wanting to see who it was.

The feeling of the hands on his cheeks were definitely from a female, as they kept feeling soft, rubbing the thumb gently. It took him slightly by surprise when the female used her thumbs to wipe tears from his eyes.

_Seems like you have been too strong for too long._

His eyes shot wide open by what she said, looking at the dark ceiling above him. He quickly sat up, running a hand over his face, feeling wet trails down his cheeks.

«Fuck...» he muttered to himself, wiping his eyes. «I’m not that fucking lonely...» he added shortly.

_Or am i…?_

Collecting himself a little, he got out of the bed, and walked over to the bag, grabbing it and tossed it onto the bed, unzipping it. He quickly grabbed a few more clothes and put them in, placing the bag unzipped on the chair again as he walked out of the bedroom, into the bathroom, getting his toiletries in a hurry. Walking with the necessities into his bedroom again, he threw them into the bag, zipping it shut.

«Not staying around...Not after that.» he muttered and got out of his PJ pants, getting dressed.

He opened the curtains, and closed the window. As he did, it was still dark outside, indicating that it was still night, and that he hadn’t been sleeping for that long. Making sure the window were shut and locked, he grabbed the bag and walked out of the bedroom, and into the kitchen. Finding a notepad in a drawer, he wrote a quick note for Lillie or Lusamine to find whenever they decided to pay him a visit, knowing that they had managed to get a key to the place at some point. Placing the note on the kitchen table, and putting the pen on top of it, making sure that it’s not going anywhere when he left. Again, before leaving the room, he checked for the windows, making sure everything were closed and locked, and with that, he left for Malie Marine, taking the first boat out of the region.

On his way over to the ferry terminal, he met Nanu, the Kahuna of Ula’Ula Island. He gave him a quick wave, which Gladion did back as he passed him. Nanu stopped, looking back at Gladion as he walked off, and into Malie City.

Nanu just scoffed lightly. «Seems like the loneliness took over after all.» he muttered to himself, watching Gladion.

Gladion entered the city, and hurried over to the terminal, not thinking twice when he ordered a ticket out of Alola, starting with Kanto. Knowing that Lillie had been in Kanto and had a great time while being there, as well as telling him about how it was when she came back to Alola, made it easier to know where he would be going and possibly get a place to stay for a few nights. He got the ticket and were told to wait for the ferry to get ready. Gladion nodded and found a seat at the terminal, waiting for the ferry to get ready so he could hurry and board it. Looking around the terminal, there were a few people around, looking rather tired or somewhat stressed. Resting his elbows on his knees, he rubbed his face, giving off a silent sigh.

It took two hours until the ferry arrived and got ready to leave again. The speakers in the waiting hall going on, announcing that the ferry were ready and that people were allowed to board. Gladion didn’t hesitate as he got up from the seat, grabbing his bag and walked over to the port, giving the lady that stood there the ticket. She took the ticket, gave it a stamp and wished him a good travel. Gladion nodded and passed her, boarding the ferry. Getting onto it, he found a seat close to the windows, knowing that it would take a while, so he might as well look outside, watching the waves whenever he were awake. He got comfortable in the seat, leaning against the window as he looked outside, closing his eyes, trying to get some more sleep, as it was still night time.

Looking outside of the window, he closed his eyes, crossing his arms to keep himself somewhat warm. He knew there would be an announcement on the speakers on the ferry, which would be rather loud. He didn’t hear it, which just meant that he drifted off to sleep quickly after getting comfortable. He didn’t dream anything, or at least he didn’t remember it when he woke up again some hours later. Unfolding his arms, he stretched himself, yawning as he ran his hand through his hair.

«Sir?»

He turned to where the voice came from and saw an older woman. «Yeah?» he muttered in a husky voice.

She presented him with a tray of food. «Sorry if i woke you up, sir. I was just wondering if you want breakfast?» he said, holding the tray in front of him.

«Right...» he replied, taking the tray off her hands, placing it on the chair beside him. «Thank you.» he said softly.

The woman nodded and bowed before walking off, giving off trays of food to the other few people around on the ferry. It wasn’t much, but it was something at least. A carton of milk, a carton of some juice and two pre-packaged sandwiches. Taking one of the sandwiches on hand, he saw that it was ham and cheese in it, so without thinking to much about it, he decided to heat it up a little, using a small fire spell he had learned years ago. Drawing the sign of the spell over the sandwich once, it slowly started to heat up, as the cheese started to melt inside the wrapping. With a quick snap of his fingers, the spell stopped. He opened the wrappings and took a bite, looking out of the window, out at the open sea. While eating and looking outside, the dream he had earlier came back to his mind.

«Too strong for too long…?» he muttered to himself.

Not knowing what that meant, other than he had been hiding himself for years, and ignoring the feeling of loneliness.The words spoken to him didn’t catch him as he thought they should, but instead it was the voice. It was of a female, though, he couldn’t remember hearing anyone in Alola with a voice like that.

Such a soft voice, quite gentle even, yet there was something in the tone that made it quite serious and sounding worried, which made him get a few goosebumps down his spine. He shaked his head, taking another bite of the sandwich. Looking over at the tray for a brief second, he noticed that a child were standing a few feet away from him, eyeing down the juice carton he had. The two exchanged looks for a second, the kid looking up and down between him and the juice. Gladion reached for the juice, looking at the kid as it’s eyes slowly dropped, a pout slowly forming.

Gladion took the juice carton and held it out for the kid. «Take it. I don’t like this kind anyway.» he muttered.

The face of the child lit up as it took the juice in its hands, smiling widely. «Thank you, kind sir!» the kid exclaimed and ran off back to its parents.

Gladion watched it run off to the other side, being ecstatic that he had gotten himself a new juice to sip on. The woman, who apparently were it’s mother, looked over at Gladion, giving him an apologetic smile and nod. Gladion just nodded back, gesturing that it was fine and that he didn’t mind. The speakers came on, telling the passengers ‘ _good morning_ ’ and giving them the time of the day. Knowing it’s morning, because of the breakfast that the passengers had gotten, Gladion didn’t pay too much attention to what was being said. He took the other sandwich and put it in his bag for later, and continued to eat the one he had on hand. As the time of the day were given, he already knew that he would be in Kanto by night again, so with what Lillie had told him about Kanto, he started to think of where he could stay for the rest of the night, or if there even was an Inn open in those late hours.

The hours passed, and the kid from earlier that morning walked over to him again. «Sir?» it started, wanting his attention while the kid stood there, holding a deck of cards.

«Hmm?» Gladion hummed softly, looking down at the kid who were standing beside him.

«Do you know any card tricks? Or card games?» it asked.

Gladion just looked at the kid a little dumbfounded, but nodded. The mother came over and sat down in front of him. «I’m so sorry!» he said in a hushed voice.

«It’s fine. I have nothing to do anyway.» he replied and held his hand out. «May i look at the cards of yours?»

The kid nodded and smiled widely, handing him the deck of cards. It’s been years since Gladion had been playing with cards, much less, magic tricks with them which were fairly easy. Keeping the kid distracted by him talking to him, and watching the deck of cards in his hands, showing him a few tricks here and there. The kid were ectatic, tugging on its mothers sleeve, making her chuckle softly and nod.

«Mommy look!» he exclaimed and gasped in surprise, pointing at Gladion’s hands, where the cards were supposedly were a few seconds earlier. «The cards disappears!» he added, still pointing.

He kept on showing the kid tricks, at least until it fell asleep on its mothers lap. The mother were gently stroking its head, smiling softly. She struck up a conversation with him, asking him whatever of questions, which Gladion politely replied to.

«Why are you traveling to Kanto for?» she asked him out of curiosity.

«I just...needed a change of scenery.» he replied.

The woman gave a soft giggle. «I see...So you are a _‘Hunter’_ then.» she added.

Gladion looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. «A hunter?»

She nodded. «Yes. That’s what Kantonese people call others that don’t know what they are actually searching for.» she said with a smile. «My husband were a _‘hunter’_ at some point. Coming from Alola himself, he told me that he didn’t know what he were looking for. He even told me on our wedding night that he had a vision, telling him to get out of the region.» she added, chuckling softly as she stroke the head of her child softly.

«A vision…?» Gladion repeated. «What did he mean by that?» he asked, almost sure that the dream he had the previous night now were, most likely, a so called _‘vision’_ for him to leave the region.

«He never told me the details, but he kept saying that it brought him to me.» she replied with a soft chuckle, smiling sweetly as she looked down at her child. «I don’t care if it was a vision or not. I only care about what he did...»

«Which was what?» Gladion asked.

«Leaving his home region to find something he could call home. Or rather...take home.» she said, pointing at herself, chuckling. Gladion nodded, thinking that it’s probably something he were doing himself at this point. Going to a different region, looking for something, or rather, someone that he, himself, could call home or, as she said it, take home.


	4. It just got Real

The ride continued over the open sea, and it had started to slowly going dark again. Gladion kept himself busy with the kid, showing him more simple card tricks, as well as playing a few card games with it. The child’s mother also joined in in a few of the card games, at least until the announcement came on, telling everyone that they were close to Kanto. The kid were to busy with the card game, not listening that its mother were telling it to gather its cards, so they could get over to their original seats and get their things. Gladion heard what she were saying, and made the game short, telling the kid that it’s time  to pack up.

«Aww...But i was having fun.» It said, giving a pout and looked over at its mother.

She looked at her kid and shook her head. «We are soon in Kanto, so we need to get ready.» she said calmly. She looked over at Gladion. «Thank you for entertaining my child...I don’t know how to thank you enough for that.» she said, and bowed deeply to him.

«It’s fine. As i said earlier, i had nothing else to do, and the ride over to Kanto is quite long.» he replied, being overly modest.

She just smiled to him and thanked him again before she got up from the seat with her kid, walking over to their luggage on the other side of the lounge, making sure that everything were there and putting the deck of cards away in a bag. Gladion took up his bag, digging up the sandwich he put away from the breakfast he got, and started to munch on it, slowly watching Kanto appear in the distance of the dark horizon.

_ Shit just got real… _

He started to get slightly nervous, watching the lights on Cinnabar Island getting closer, as well as watching the lights from Fuchsia City gradually get brighter as the ferry got closer to the region. Inhaling deeply, he let it out with a sigh as he kept watching the shore get closer. The speakers came on again, giving everyone on the ferry some information about where they were going to dock the ferry up, and where they would be walking off. Munching on the sandwich, he kept focusing on the island they were going to get off on. Cinnabar Island, and from there, a boat to either Pallet town or Fuchsia City. Eating and waiting for the boat to dock up at the marine on the island, he looked around the lounge, at the few people that were around and got ready to leave once the ferry were docked up.

Gladion finished the sandwich and put the plastic in his pocket, thinking of throwing it away later when he was in Fuschia City. After another hour, the ferry finally docked up, letting people off. For once, it felt good having some solid ground under his feet, but knowing that he were going to Fuschia City, there was still one more boat ride. With a sigh, he walked through the terminal, asking the receptionist of where he should be going to get a boat over to the city. The woman behind the desk pointed in a direction, telling him that there should be someone waiting outside for people that wanted to get over there quickly. He nodded and thanked her as he started to walk off, in the direction she had pointed at.

Going outside again, he looked around, seeing a boat, a rather small boat, with an older man tending to it. Not sure if that’s what the receptionist meant, he sighed and walked over. The man noticed him and looked up at him as he walked up, stopping slightly in front of him.

«Oh, a young traveler. Going to Fuschia City i presume?» he said, his voice being really low.

«Yeah… You the guy?» Gladion asked.

«I sure am. Not many is going to Fuschia City at this hour, as of why it’s a small boat.» he said, greeting him by lifting his hat slighting. «Get on board, kid.» he added.

Gladion hesitated slightly, but got onboard the small boat. The elderly man suggested that he took a jacket on, as it would get quite chilly sitting in thin clothes. Gladion nodded and found a jacket of his in a hurry, at the same time, the man started up the small engine of the boat, slowly heading out to Route 20 and Route 19. He tried to strike up a conversation with Gladion, but there wasn’t really much to talk about, as well as Gladion were quite nervous, being in a region he had never been in before. But so far, so good. The waters were slightly rough, but nothing that made it a terrifying experience as they headed over to the massive city, the lights lighting up the entire place. Once at the shore of Fuschia City, Gladion got his bag and got off. The older man did as well, trying his boat up to a nearby tree, telling Gladion that the city is just right ahead and that an Inn is close by the tourist hall there, as well as a little more information that could come in handy.

«That’s about it, kid. Be careful around the city at night though. A lot of youngsters find it funny to toss a few spells around, scaring people.» he said to him.

«Right. Thanks...I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open.» Gladion replied.

The older man gave him a wave, and walked off in a different direction. Gladion stood there, watching him a little before looking over to the city, inhaling deeply before he started to approach the entrance from the shore. Walking up to the pavement, he looked around a little before deciding to just walk around, seeing if he could find the Inn that the older man told him about. Walking around a good portion of the city, seeing and listening to the night life that were there, he eventually found the tourist hall, which would have an Inn by its side. Walking over and past the tourist hall, avoiding the few gangs that were passing him, he entered the Inn, looking around and were quite surprised by its aesthetics. Being in a very golden city, it was odd to see the Inn looking so traditional. An older woman arrived to greet him, and asked for how long he would be staying.

«Just a night, for now at least.» he replied.

The older woman bowed. «Alright. Please follow me, your room will be down this hallway. Shoes have to come off and be placed in a shoebox here.» she said and walked off.

Looking around, Gladion noticed that most of the shoes were taken off, so without thinking about it, he did as well, placing them in a shoebox as the woman had told him. Looking closely at the box, taking a mental note of how it looked like before he wandered after the older woman, following her down the hallway. Passing the many rooms, hearing people snore and talk in their sleep, he stopped, looking into a room, where the woman were pulling out a futon, alongside a pillow and a duvet for him. Gladion stepped inside of the room, just as the woman were done finding the bedding for him, and looked around. It was quite small, but he were going to stay the rest of the night only, so it was only for sleeping. She finished and left the room, wishing him a good night as she closed the partition.

To his surprise, it was quite silent in the room, despite him hearing loud snores and sleeptalking on his way to the room. He put the bag down beside the futon and stripped down, putting his clothes on the bag before he turned the lights off, crawling under the duvet, trying to get comfortable. It was strangely calming to just lay there on the floor, watching the string from the lamp on the ceiling lightly sway from side to side. As the sleepiness came over him, he drifted off to sleep.

Back in Alola, while Gladion were on the ferry over to Kanto, Lillie had decided to retrieve the book she forgot at his place the day prior. She walked up to the door, knocking a couple of times and didn’t get a reply. Thinking that he just were asleep, she used the key she had secretly taken from him and locked herself in, walking straight over to his bedroom, thinking that he couldn’t sleep away the day, it being noon soon. She swung the door open, and walked straight over to the window out of habit, planning to drag the curtains away, letting the sun in.

«Rise and shine, brother!» she exclaimed loudly.

Once she saw that the curtains were already open, she looked over at the bed, not seeing him lying there. She tilted her head, and walked out of the room, and knocked on the bedroom door. 

«Gladion? Are you in there?» she asked as she kept on knocking on the door. «It’s not funny if you are ignoring me!» she shouted out.

Not getting a reply from the bathroom either, she opened the door, seeing no one in there. She shrugged, thinking that he were already up and were probably wandering around the island, or have gotten over to one of the other islands. She hurried out to the living room, looking for the book she left behind. Not finding it in the living room, she turned around, and walked into the kitchen, seeing the book on the table. As well as she noticed the note laying there. Looking a little suspicious at first, she grabbed the piece of paper, reading what it said.

_ It’s night when i’m writing this. I’m leaving for Kanto now, and i’m not sure when i’ll be back. I’ll probably leave for a different region when i’m done in Kanto. I’ll be fine, so don’t worry about it, both of you. _

  * __Gladion__



 

Lillie gasped in horror. «Oh my god! He left already! And i was only joking about leaving the region!»

She took the note with her and put it inside the book as she hurried out of his place, locking the door in a hurry as she jogged over to Malie City, taking the ferry over to Melemele Island again. On the ferry over to Melemele again, Lillie started to feel bad, thinking that her brother would probably die or get badly injured while being in Kanto. The region being well known for their offencive magic, which was something people in Alola weren’t as keen on teaching or learning how to use. 

_ Oh my god...He’s going to die… _

The panic kept creeping on her as she arrived at the marine, hurrying over to the Aether mansion in the back of Hau’oli city. She entered in a hurry, slamming the door shut as she called for Lusamine, loudly.  Lusamine shouted over to her that she were in the living room, watching her favourite show, and asked what she wanted, as well as of why she were shouting. Lillie stood there, holding the book tightly to her chest as she were catching her breath again.

«Gladion have left for Kanto!» she shouted at her mother.

Lusamine just sighed and shook her head. «I doubt it. He’s probably on a different island or were just hiding from you when you paid him a visit to pick up your book again.» she said, rather calmly.

Lillie found the note and showed it into Lusamine’s face, to which she lightly growled at, taking the piece of paper on hand and read it. Her eyes got wide as she read it, and looked over at Lillie. «This has to be a joke.» she hissed.

«I’m not joking! Why should i joke about something like that?!» Lillie hissed back.

«You tell me?» she replied, lightly hissing it.

Lillie growled to herself and snatched the note off of her mother's hands. «Whatever...You never believe anything that either I or Gladion have been telling you anyway...» she lightly snarled and left the living room, stomping lightly out.

Lusamine just scoffed lightly. «If you have left, i hope you get back in one piece, Gladion.» she muttered to herself.

Lillie stomped lightly up to her room, holding the note tightly, as well as holding the book tightly to her chest. Once she were inside her room, she shut the door and looked at the note again. It was definitely his hand writing, and knowing him, he would do things like these out of anger or frustration. Lillie sighed softly, walking over to the desk of hers and sat down in the chair there. In some kind of panic, she didn’t know what to do with herself, so she put the book down on her desk, and opened it to a random page, starting to read, trying to calm herself down in a way. Knowing that this book were at his place, and that the note also were at the same spot as the book, she figured that he might have read a few pages in it, and then decided to leave the region.

As she kept reading the pages, she didn’t remember anything, her mind racing and feeling extremely bad for pulling a joke like leaving the region, which he took seriously. There was a knock on the door, and before she could tell them to enter, Wicke opened it and walked in.

«Miss Lusamine told me what you said, and about the note.» she said sweetly, closing the door behind her and walked up to the distressed girl behind the desk.

«Wicke...» she muttered. «I was only joking when i told him to leave the region...and have now left.» she added.

Wicke walked up to her side and rubbed her back gently. «I’m sure your brother will be fine, so i believe you have nothing to worry about.» she reassured her, smiling sweetly.

Lillie just nodded, not sure how to reply. Of course, Gladion were capable of taking care of himself, but knowing that he had never been outside of the region, much less, gotten good at any offensive magic spells were quite worrying for her. Lillie calmed down a little after talking some more with Wicke, but were still quite worried and kept feeling very guilty.


	5. Looking like a Princess

Gladion woke up the later that day by someone being loud in the hallway. Groaning lightly, he sat up on the futon he was sleeping on, hearing an elderly man trying to calm down the loud man in the hallway. Sitting on the futon, he ran his hands over his face, rubbing his face in the process, waking up a little more. Sighing a little, he looked around the room a little before he got up on his feet, stretching his back, making a few of his joints crack back into place. For being in a different region and not at home in his own bed, he slept fairly good for once. Reaching down for his clothes, he quickly got dressed and checked out the attached room to his bedroom. It was a simple bathroom, so he found his toiletries and quickly finished himself, getting ready to leave. 

The man in the hallway were still pretty loud, as well as he didn’t want to calm down, despite the elderly man trying to calm him down, telling him that there might be people still sleeping around at the Inn. Putting his stuff into the bag again, he zipped it up and grabbed it, ready to leave and get over to the next city. Fixing his shirt and his bangs a little more before he walked out into the hallway, seeing the loud man and the elderly man, just looking at him with a confused look on their faces. Gladion just gave them a nod as he passed them, not giving them any more attention as he walked out to the front.

They just stood there, looking at him like they had seen a ghost. They muttered something in Kantonese and kept being quiet as they watched Gladion disappear around a corner. Once he reached the front, he were greeted by the elderly woman from last night.

She gave him a warm and welcoming smile. «Good morning, sir. Did you sleep well?» she asked.

«I did. Thank you.» he replied and looked into the direction of where he had arrived from.

The woman noticed he were looking into the direction of the hallway he came from and sighed softly. «I’m sorry they woke you up.» she muttered softly.

«Don’t worry about it.» he said, not wanting to sound irritable, knowing fully well that some people just have to be loud for whatever reason.

She smiled warmly and pointed at the book in front of him. «Please write your name in there, sir. We like to keep a small record of who have been here.» she said.

Gladion nodded and found the pen on the side, writing down his name, the time he spent and the date when he left. The woman nodded and asked if he wanted something to eat, as compensation for the loud men in the hallway, which woke him up. He accepted, but asked for it to be packed, so he could eat while taking on the next routes to the next city. She agreed and asked if he could just wait for a little, while she were preparing the food and wrapping it up for him. Gladion nodded and watched the woman walk off. He looked around and saw that there was a bench, so he took advantage of it and sat down while waiting.

On the side, there was a map of the region, so while he were planning to get over to the next city, he didn’t know which routes he would take, or were the easiest or the fastest. Studying the map, he figured it would be easier to take on Route 18, 17 and 16, heading towards Celadon City. While deciding the route he would take, the elderly woman appeared again. He stood up as he noticed her, and she handed him a small bag of prepacked food for him.

«I added a little more for your travels. Take care, young man, and be careful.» she said as she handed the small bag over to him, giving him a warm smile.

«Oh..Thank you. That’s too kind of you.» he said, giving a soft smile back.

He put it in his bag and found his shoes. The woman stood around a little before excusing herself. Putting on his shoes, he then walked out of the Inn, looking around the street a little before heading towards Route 18, which was a little further in the direction that the Inn were at. Starting to head in the direction of the route, he took his time, looking around the streets he were passing. He could see that there were a lot of youngsters that were having small magic fights, using spells to either attack or defend themselves, which were a rare sight in Alola, knowing that Alolan people didn’t like fights. Gladion just casually passed them, and as he reached the start of Route 18, he dug up some of the food he was given, starting to eat on it as he continued into the route. Getting past Route 18, he started on Route 17, which were the longest route before Celadon City.

Minding his own business as he walked the route, munching on the food, looking around and listening to the birds that were flying over him, minding their own business. He eventually ended up at Celadon City, which he found slightly odd, as the map he had been looking at made the routes look longer than they took to walk them. Appearing at the entrance of the city, he stopped by a vendor that were selling bottled water, asking for one. The man behind the desk nodded and were about to find a water bottle for him, but saw that Gladion’s attention were elsewhere. While Gladion were waiting for the man to find him the bottle, a girl came walking by. Gladion had to look twice, and couldn’t help but to stare at her. She were wearing a white kimono like outfit, embroidered with a few markings here and there, as well as a red spot on the front, followed by two dark blue striped, trailing over her shoulders and down the back of the outfit. He found himself mesmerized by her, and couldn’t look away. The man in the vendor followed his gaze, looking in the same direction as Gladion did and just smiled softly when he saw who he were staring at.

_ Is she a princess… _

The girl stopped and turned towards them, giving them a soft smile. Gladion didn’t know why she stopped and looked at him, as he were staring wide eyed at her. The vendor just nodded and kept on smiling widely, shaking his head a little. The girl gave a soft chuckle. «I’m flattered, but i’m no princess.» she said softly.

«W-what…?» muttered Gladion. It slowly came up to him why she knew what he had been thinking. His eyes became wide, and he became a blushing mess, averting his eyes from her, placing his hand over his mouth, trying to hide somewhat. «Oh my god...I said that out loud...» he muttered. He panicked and started to stutter, trying to find something clever to say, but nothing came out of him. «I’m sorry...I’m really sorry...» he eventually managed to get out, trying to hide his blush with his hand.

The girl chuckled softly, a faint blush on her cheeks. «Don’t worry about it. You didn’t say anything bad either.» she said. She gave them a wave and walked off. «Sayonara~.» she said as she left.

Gladion and he vendor exchanged looks before looking over at her again, disappearing into the city. The vendor gave a light whistle sound. «Now that’s a clever pick-up line, kid.»

«W-what?....No...No no no no...» he replied in panic, shaking his head and being the blushing and flustered mess he managed to make himself.

The vendor laughed softly at him, handing him the water bottle. Gladion paid for it and grabbed it, hurrying away from the place, still in a panicked state as he walked down the street. Getting away from the street, and into another one, he found a place to sit down, trying to calm down his racing heart and collect himself.

_ Fucking hell...I’m an idiot!! _

Inhaling deeply, he let it out with a silent sigh, looking down at the ground, holding the bottled water firmly in his hand. He quickly opened it and gulped down a good portion of the water. Leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees, he ran his hand over his face, groaning lightly.

_ I haven't been here a full day yet, and i’m already making a fool of myself… _

He groaned again, a little louder as well, followed by a loud sigh. «I regret everything right now...» he muttered silently to himself.

Thinking back at the situation, he couldn’t help but to blush even more. The white outfit stood out like nothing else, but they weren’t as uncommon in Kanto either, it did just fit her perfectly. Tying in her long dark hair, making quite the contrast, as well as her grey eyes stood out, even for only have seen her for a brief second, he saw a lot. 

_ She were quite pretty… _

Getting wide eyed again, he shook his head. «No...no...Stop thinking like this!» he muttered to himself, running his hand over his face.

Again, after calming down a little more from the mess he were, he couldn't get her out of his head. For some reason, there was something strangely familiar with her, he just couldn’t figure out how.  _ Had they met in the past, and he had just forgotten about it? Had Lillie mentioned someone like her after she came back from Kanto? Was it her voice? _

For him, it had to be her voice, as it were quite similar to the voice from the dream he had back in Alola, before he left. A sigh escaped him, as he would probably never meet the girl again, not after the involuntary stunt he pulled out of the blue on her, while someone were watching. Gladion sat there for a while, sipping on the water and looking up at the sky, as well around the street he had hurried over to, trying to hide. Finishing the water, he tossed it in the nearby bin, and decided to look for an Inn to stay at, hopefully for a while at least, now that he were in a bigger city. Taking a deep breath, he started to wander around again, looking for an Inn somewhere.

The day were still quite young, so he didn’t stress about finding it, taking his time while looking around at the same time. Watching people pass, minding their own business. Gladion would occasionally think back at the girl in the white kimono outfit, as well as a faint blush would appear, talking himself down for being an idiot, saying something like that out loud. Walking around, he eventually found an Inn, at the other side of the city, close to Route 7.

He entered the building, and like the previous Inn, he took off his shoes and put them in a box on the side before walking up to the front desk. The man who were sitting there greeted him with a smile and asked for how long he were staying. Gladion replied that he would probably stay a few days, knowing that Saffron City were quite expensive, and he surely didn’t want to spend most of his money on an Inn there. The man behind the desk nodded and asked him to write down his name and the current date, to which he did. He gave him a key and pointed into the direction of where his room would be.

«Celadon being a bigger city, we have now installed keys to each room. Have a wonderful stay and if there is anything you are wondering on, don’t hesitate to ask.» he said, and bowed deeply to him.

«I will. Thank you.» Gladion flatly replied and started to wander down the hallway, in the direction the man had pointed at.

The key had a small note attached to it, with a number on. Looking at the doors as he passed, he eventually found the door with the same number on as the key he had gotten himself. Unlocking the door, he walked in, seeing a futon already ready, as well as a small table with a few snacks on it. Closing the door and locking it behind him, he took a quick look at the side, revealing a bathroom with a Kantonese style shower, which was a first to him, but he fully knew how they worked, as Lillie were fascinated about them for a while after she came back to Alola, telling everyone about how different it was. He got into the main room, and put his bag down, pulling the curtains away, revealing quite the pretty landscape view.

_ I can like this...Except the situation earlier… _

Growling a little to himself, he sat down with the table, finding the food he had gotten from the previous Inn, starting to eat a little of it while keeping his mind busy by reading a pamphlet that were laying on the table. It was telling him about what Kanto had to offer for a tourist, and what sights were the most common places to visit, as well as the most common places to by a souvenir if wanted. Gladion just shaked his head at the many ads on this piece of paper, putting it away as he started to look around the room, seeing that there were a couple of books as well. He got up and reached for one, sitting down again and opened it, starting to read it. The book were about Kanto, and it’s many and old legends. The topic wasn’t the most interesting, but he kept on reading it anyway, thinking that there might be something interesting of a location that he could look after, or try and find.

As he kept reading it, his interest were caught in a topic about a Bamboo forest, that were laying around the border between Kanto and Jotho, close to the so called  _ ‘Victory Road’ _ in Kanto. The book told him about the ancient Crane tribe, that had a village hidden within the bamboo forest. No one had ever seen it, nor been able to find it, at least without a guide from the Crane tribe itself. As well as there was a few paragraphs talking about the famous woman from the Crane tribe; Lunala, that stopped the war and married a warlord from Alola; Solgaleo. There were also a lot of the other warlords, but his interest were caught in the female Crane woman, the outfit she were wearing was looking eerily similar to the girl from earlier.

Without noticing, the time flew by and it had already gotten quite dark outside, so when Gladion looked up and outside of the window, he close the book and put the food away. He got up and got himself ready to sleep, feeling quite tired and energyless after this day, probably mostly after the encounter, but he didn’t want to admit that to himself. Stripping off of his clothes, he put them neatly on the side of his bag, closed the curtains, and got in under the duvet on the futon. As quickly his head hit the pillow, he drifted off to sleep.


	6. Knight in shining Armor

It’s been a few days, and Gladion had explored Celadon City, getting to know the streets. He had spotted the girl from a few days ago a few times, but avoided her like the plague, not wanting to meet her again. He were still very much embarrassed by what he muttered when he saw her the first time. What he didn’t know, was that she did notice him avoiding her, though, she didn’t mind, but found it somewhat funny that he did. She just went on minding her own business.

It getting quite late, and the night creeping on slowly, Gladion were on his way back to the Inn. On his way, there were a few gangs lurking around, and they were sure eying him down, seeing that Gladion were from a different region. As a gang noticed him as he walked past them, they decided to follow him, throwing insults in Kantonese, which Gladion didn’t understand. He did his best to ignore it, not wanting to start a fight in a region, where he knew he was at an disadvantage.

Walking past him, were the girl again, in her white kimono like outfit. They locked eyes for a brief second. The second she passed the gang that were following him, they stopped, cat calling her and literally stopped and turned on the stop, eyeing her down. They all muttered something in Kantonese and started to walk after her, which made Gladion panic for her, knowing what they were going to do and wouldn’t hesitate if it came to it.

Standing there, watching the gang follow her for a little before he started to slowly walk after them, not wanting them to see him, nor find out that he now were following them, just to make sure that they didn’t do anything to her. They kept cat calling her, and trying to get her attention as they approached her, fast. She were starting to feel a bit uneasy, but didn’t look behind her, as it will give the gang a confirmation that she gave them attention. She were slowly starting to panic as she turned the corner, walking down a different street, wanting to shake them off as much as possible.

«Where are you going, girl?» one of the guys in the gang shouted after her.

The gang laughed loudly. «Come on girl, give us something at least.» another said, nodding to the others as they kept laughing, nodding back and confirmed it with them that he said something ‘clever’.

Gladion’s frown became more prominent on his face, listening carefully at what they were saying, even though he didn’t understand anything. He could at least figure out that they were telling something ridiculous to get her attention. As the street came to a halt, there was no way to escape. She turned around, seeing the gang blocking her way out. She were clearly looking nervous and scared, even more so when one of them started to mutter a spell.

«What do you want?» she asked, trying to act calmly.

Gladion stopped at the corner, listening to them as they talked to her, and slowly approached her. They kept talking in Kantonese, but the tone in their voices were sounding slightly malicious to him, which made him scoff silently. He didn’t really want to be around, but felt like he couldn’t leave her be either, being a girl and it being dark outside already.

«You already know what we want.» another of the guys said.

Gladion felt gross, and for once, they spoke in English. He peeked around the corner a little, seeing that they were slowly approaching her, many of them muttering a spell. One of them were to fire off a fire spell over at her, but Gladion stepped out just in time, calling the gang to his attention, only for the guys to turn, the one with the fire spell shooting at him instead. Gladion barely dodged it. The girl looked horrified as he dodged it, only for the gang to start laughing loudly.

«Oh shit...» Gladion muttered lightly as he dodged it. «Mother fucker...» he hissed.

The gang were still laughing, and the girl were looking exchanging look between Gladion and the gang. She looked around, seeing if there was a way to escape, but the only way would be to sneak past them. She couldn’t fight them, and didn’t want to try either, knowing fully well that her magic were not strong enough for an attack. Gladion really didn’t know what he had gotten himself into as the gang started to approach him. They started to throw small fire spells at him, which he dodged fairly easy. It took a different turn when a guy launched at him, going for a punch. The others in the gang walked around him, keeping him trapped.

As the fight kept going on, there were a few punches and a few attack spells exchanged, but Gladion were clearly in a losing position, being outnumbered even. It was a situation he were used to, as Guzma and his gang were usually doing the same thing for fun with him, himself always being the practice dummy for them. Being quite beaten up, one of them, presumably the boss of the gang took a firm grip around his neck, pinning him to the nearby wall.

«Think you are being smart, kid? It’s a bad omen to challenge people older than you around in Kanto.» he said, giving him a mischievous smile.

«I could say the same...» Gladion hissed, giving him a smirk.

He slammed him hard into the wall and released him, only for Gladion to fall down to the ground, coughing and slightly gasping for air. The guy snarled something in Kantonese and kicked him in his stomach, making him hunch over in pain. The girl kept watching in horror as the gang were laughing, while their ‘boss’ were hissing and snarling insults to him in Kantonese. They looked over at her, only to scoff, looking rather pissed as they walked off. As they walked off, she slowly walked forward, towards Gladion, thinking of helping him to the best of her ability. Once the gang turned the corner, she hurried up and sat down on her knees beside him.

«Are you dumb? You could have been killed!» she exclaimed to him, sounding extremely worried.

He gave a half hearted laugh and sat up more, leaning towards the wall. «It’s not the first time i have been beaten up like this.» he said, trying to take a few deep breaths, but the pain in his abdomen were to great for the time being.

«That’s...quite concerning...» she muttered. «Why did you help me though? You have, after all, been avoiding me like the plague.» she added.

Gladion’s eyes averted to the side, avoiding her gaze to the fullest, fighting the blush that started to appear on his cheeks. «The malicious intent were radiating from them...»

«So...You felt like you should help out?» she then asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

«Sue me...» he said, a bit to snarky than he intended up.

«Hai...Hai...» she replied, waving her hand at him, sighing lightly. It grew silent for a few minutes. The only sound that could be heard were the crickets and him catching his breath. «Thank you though.» she said softly.

He looked over at her, seeing that she were looking down at the ground. He didn’t even know how to reply as he just stared at her wide eyed. She were apparently saying something, but he didn’t catch it, being quite busy looking at her features. Long dark hair, the bangs framing her face, as well as her grey eyes, that were looking like they were giving a faint glow. His eyes went down to her lips, seeing that there were a faint smile across them, as well as a faint blush could be seen on her cheeks. Even though it was quite dark, the faint light from the lights around the city gave away a lot, and he could feel his heart to start racing in his chest, getting louder for each second he looked at her.

«D-don’t mention it...» he muttered, looking away from her before she could notice that he had been staring at her. He swallowed thickly, fighting the blush on his cheeks to the best of his ability.

She smiled softly and got up on her feet, dusting off her knees before reaching a hand out to him, gesturing for him that she would help him up. He hesitated a little, but accepted her gesture, and got up. Letting go of her hand, he leaned against the wall again, his arm over his abdomen, trying to mask the pain somewhat. He flinched and his heart speed up like nothing when he felt her hands on his cheeks.

«Stand still.» she said, giving him a warm smile.

As she said it, the stinging pain on his head and face slowly subdued and disappeared. Looking down at her hands, there were a faint green glow. «Healing magic...?» he muttered.

She nodded and hummed softly. «Not many can do that anymore.» she replied, giving him a lopsided smile.

_ Fuck, she’s pretty… _

The thought made his heart speed up even more, as well as his cheeks got a darker shade of red on them, but he couldn’t look away from her, getting fixated on her eyes. She smiled and removed her hands. «There you go. You shouldn’t feel any pain, though, i can’t do much if you swell up.» she said, followed by a soft giggle.

«Thanks...» he muttered, quickly looking away from her. «I’ll be fine though...» he added.

She nodded. «If you say so.» She dug through the bag she had around her waist, and found a small pouch of herbs, handing it to him.

He took it on hand, looking at the pouch in confusion. «And this is...?»

She pointed at his abdomen. «For your pain there, as i can’t heal that. You just add a few leaves if that herb in your morning tea, and you should be fine.» she said softly.

«Oh...right...Thanks.» he muttered, holding it tightly in his hand.

She took a few steps away from him and looked out at the lit up street. «I’ll be going. I’m sure you can find your way back to the Inn you are staying at by yourself.» she said, nodding slightly.

«Yeah, i should at least manage that much...» he muttered.

She looked over at him again and chuckled softly, which made him just look at her again, with wide eyes. She gave him a soft smile. «Thanks for being the knight in shining armor for me.»

Gladion now were a blushing mess, hearing her give a soft giggle as she turned her back at him, and started to walk off. She gave him a wave as she turned the corner, disappearing from his sight. Swallowing thickly, he ran his hand over his forehead, pushing his bangs away a little. He took a few deep breaths, calming down as much as possible before he got up and away from the wall, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, wiping away any blood that could be seen. Straighten up his shirt a little, fixing his appearance to the best of his ability, he walked out and onto the lit street, finding his way over to the Inn he were staying at.

As he walked over to the street, where the Inn were located, he looked at the small pouch with tea herbs she gave him. It was a small light blue pouch, with a small dark blue rope, tying it closed in a small bow. Studying it, he saw that there were a few small prints on it. It was too dark to see them, so he didn’t look to closely at them. Finding the Inn, he got inside, and made sure that there were no one at the front desk, so he could avoid getting questions of what had happened. Luckily there were none, so he could calmly find his way to his room.

Once he unlocked the door and got into his room, he threw the small pouch of herbs into the table, undoing the buttons on the shirt as he got into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He turned on the water as he looked at himself.

_ What an idiot you are… _

He sighed and took a handful of water and splashed it onto his face, rubbing it in a couple of times as well. He washed away whatever there was of blood from the wounds he got from the punches and the few magic spells that managed to hit him. With another sigh, he looked down into the sink, watching the water flow down from the tap.

_ Knight in shining armor… _

He gave a half hearted chuckle, shaking his head a little as a soft smile came across his lips, his facial features softening up by the thought of her calling him that. Not knowing her at all, he couldn’t help himself to feel somewhat proud and victorious. Sure, he got a good beating, but he managed to stop the idiots from doing anything to her, which would surely have ruined her life. He washed his face again, taking a towel and drying the water off as he walked out into the main room, looking at the small pouch again. He could clearly see the pattern now on the thing, and it was covered in small white snowflakes in different patterns. Quite the pretty piece he thought quickly before shaking his head, feeling a blush creeping onto his face.

_ No...No...Stop it. Just stop… _

He tossed the towel onto the table and took off his shirt, looking down at his abdomen, seeing a massive bruise where the guy had kicked him. A sigh escaped him, but looking at the small pouch again, he came to think of what she said, about it might help it heal the bruise and the pain. Not thinking to much about it, he threw the shirt onto the floor, sure that he wouldn’t be using that tomorrow, as it was now full of bloodstains on the sleeves. Stripping of his pants in a hurry, he turned the light off and got in under the duvet on the futon. It was hard to get comfortable, as the pain coming from his abdomen were greater than he thought, but ignoring it to the best of his ability, he closed his eyes, just focusing on the silence around him, and eventually drifted off to sleep, but not before a soft image of the girl came to his mind, smiling softly at him. Not noticing it himself, he had a soft smile across his lips.

_ She really is pretty... _


	7. Namae?

Gladion woke up the next day, feeling really sore. After a slight struggle to get up, he took a shower and decided to stay inside for the day, avoiding questions and weird looks from people on the streets. Getting into some clean clothes he sat down with the table in his room, taking the small pouch of tea herbs on hand, looking at it carefully. The girl from yesterday gave it to him, and told him that he should put some in the tea. Gladion’s wasn’t one to drink tea, but remembering that it was to ease the pain he got, he decided to give it a try again, despite not wanting to drink the weird flavoured liquid.

With a sigh, he started to heat up some water in the teapot that were in the room, looking over at the tea flavors on the tray while waiting for the water to get hot. So many flavours, yet they sounded so strange to him, so in the end he went with one that sounded and looked like it would be sweet, not wanting to taste anything bitter in the morning. As the water finally got hot, he found a teacup and poured it in, adding the tea flavour. He took a good look at the herbs he got, but put in a few leaves.

Waiting for the tea to get ready, he couldn’t help but to poke the few places where he had gotten bruises, making it slightly sting. He sighed deeply, hanging his head a little. He could hear people pass by his room in the hallway, talking about whatever they found interesting. There were a lot of talking about Saffron City and what had been doing on there. Many of the gangs that he were warned about in Fuschia City were from Saffron City, and had just wandered down to the other city, just to look for trouble.

Thinking back about it, the gang he ended up with the last night were probably one of them. Looking down at the table, seeing that the tea were, more or less, done, he took a sip. It ended up being too sweet for him, but kept drinking it. As he finished it, he grimaced and were sure that it would be a while until the next time he had any tea, as well as he were hoping for that the herbs did help to ease the pain in his abdomen. Gladion didn’t do much the rest of the day, other than to stay hidden from the world, keeping himself entertained with some of the books that were in his room, as well as getting a few things to eat and snack on.

**\--------**

Another few days passed, and Gladion were feeling better. He didn’t have any bruises anymore, although, his abdomen were still occasionally hurting, but no to the point that he couldn’t do anything. This particular day, he had gotten the idea that he would get in some practice on some spells he had some trouble with. Taking the stroll out of Celadon City to Route 7, he decided to practice there, but needed to find himself a place where there wouldn’t be any people.

Finding his way through the route, and into the woods around, he found a small clearing, not to far away from the main path. Making sure that there wasn’t anyone around, he started to practice on the few attack spells that he knew. Muttering the words, not really aiming at anything other than the air, he kept going, using the trees around as dummies. He could get a hand on the smaller spells, but knew a few bigger ones, that were more powerful. Taking a deep breath, he decided to give that a try. He muttered the words, and started to aim at a nearby tree, only to get distracted as he took a quick glance to the side.

On the path, he saw the girl again, just casually walking from Saffron City, over to Celadon. His mind went blank while staring at her, forgetting that he were using quite a powerful spell. Without noticing, the spell, which was of a fire type, getting larger in front of him. Without notice, it bursted in front of him, sending him backwards, hitting a tree. He gave a painful groan as he hit the tree, sitting at the base of it, growling to himself. The girl heard the explosion that it made and looked into that direction, as well as hearing the groan that escaped him.

She hesitated a little, looking around the route before slowly approaching the place where she heard it. Approaching, and walking past the few trees and bushes, she found Gladion leaning against a tree, cursing and muttering to himself. She didn’t try to hide from him as she giggled softly, making Gladion look straight at her, his cheeks became as red as they could get.

_ Shit...She heard… _

«Are you okay?» she asked between her giggles.

Gladion turned slightly away from her, masking his blushing face with his hand. «I’m fine...» he muttered.

She started to approach him. «Hmm…? You sure about that?»

«Positive...» he muttered back.

She stopped right beside him and squatted down. «Hontõni?»

He didn’t understand what she said and just nodded, giving a soft hum in response. He got up on his feet again, dusting off his pants. «I knew that was going to happen...» he added.

She got up on her feet and tilted her head. «Oh? What spell did you use?»

«Just a simple fire spell.» he said, trying to impress her without trying.

«Oh. I don’t know much about fire spells, so i can’t really tell.» she said, giving him a lopsided smile.

_ Almost had the spell working...if i just… _

He looked down at her, seeing her lopsided smile and hearing her embarrassed chuckle.

_...Didn’t...get distracted... _

By giving her a quick glance, he felt his cheeks heat up. He looked away, giving a silent scoff.

«I can only use air magic, and of course healing magic.» she said, sounding embarrassed by it.

Gladion’s eyes got slightly wide, shifting his attention over to her again, looking rather surprised. «Only air magic?»

«Well...yeah.» she softly replied, nodding. «Not much, but i can at least defend myself if needed...depending on what people attack me with...» Gladion didn’t say anything, and felt ridiculous for helping her those days back, lightly scoffing. She looked up at him and just gave a half hearted chuckle. «Sorry, but i did appreciate you helping me back then.» she added, moving her hands behind her back, swaying a little.

«Right...Sorry for just...» he started, scratching the back of his head, feeling quite embarrassed.

«For helping? Don’t be sorry for that.» she said, giving him a warm smile. «Did the herbs help to ease the pain?»

«The herbs?» he asked, completely forgotten about them.

«Yeah?...I have you some herbs that you should put in your tea days ago.» she said, feeling a bit disappointed that he had already forgotten, as those herbs were quite hard to find.

«Oh...Those.» he replied and nodded. «I’m not much of a tea drinker, but i had them. Thanks...They helped a little.» he added.

«That’s great! At least i could help to ease the pain a little.» she replied.

_ If only you could ease the loneliness i feel...No...Gladion...No… _

The thought made him even more red, and she just leaned to the side, looking up at him. «You getting a fever or something?»

Gladion panicked and shaked his head. «I’m fine...Just haven’t...eaten yet today.»

«Oh? Want to grab something to eat then? Treat’s on me~.» she said cheerfully.

«I’ll be fine. Thanks though.» he replied flatly.

«I don’t believe you.»  she quickly added, crossing her arms.

«What makes you say that?» he lightly hissed, not really looking at her.

«You just seem like a person who would say that.» she replied quickly.

Gladion didn’t know how to reply to that and just looked down at the petite girl, with her arms crossed. With a little more back and forth, she managed to pursue him to join her for lunch. They got out of the woods and onto the path again, heading into Celadon City to find a place to get some food. He were utterly embarrassed as they walked into the city, though, he kept looking at her as she were walking a little in front of him. He literally eyed her down a couple of times. Her hair were flowing gently behind her, following her movements. Her hips softly swaying from side to side. It didn’t help on the blush he had on his face, and it became more intense the more he watched her.

Breaking the silence, she asked him what his name were. «What’s your name?» she asked, looking back at him.

His gaze hurried off of her hips and to the side, looking at the buildings of the city. «Gladion.» he replied in a hurry. Swallowing thickly, he looked over at her. «Yours?»

«Luna.» she replied, followed by a soft smile, which made his heart skip a beat.

Walking towards the main shopping street, where most of the cafès and restaurants were. Luna just picked a place, and Gladion followed her, not caring where they were eating. As they walked into a cafè, they found a table. Sitting down, Gladion looked around at the place. He had been passing it a few times, but never been inside and tried anything on their menu. Luna had been there a few times, so she knew what she wanted as she found and handed a menu over to Gladion.

«Pick something and i’ll go and order it.» she said softly.

Gladion took the menu and took a look, not really finding anything that caught his interest. He put the menu down on the table, crossing his arms as he sat back. «I don’t even know what half of these things are, so just order something...I couldn’t care less.»

Luna just nodded. «If you say so.» she said and got up from the chair.

She walked over to the cashier, and ordered something. While she did that, Gladion looked around more at the place, seeing that it was quite empty, beside a few people that were sitting around, eating and chatting. Looking over at Luna from the corner of his eyes, she stood around at the cash register, waiting for the food to get ready so she could carry it over to the table. While he kept watching her for a little, the doors of the cafè swung open, and in came a gang that looked like they were looking for trouble. They were talking and laughing loudly, which the few people in the place didn’t like, and were quite visible on their faces.

The gang got themselves a seat in the corner opposite of the cashregister, going on about something they found interesting, as they kept laughing occasionally. One of them spotted Luna and pointed over at her, which made all of them look directly at her. She had ignored them and didn’t want to give them any attention, even though she knew that were hard, so she kept an eye on them from the corner of her eyes. The clerck left the register and came back with two boxed, and handed them to her. She bowed and thanked for them and walked over to Gladion, giving him one box and sat down. When the gang saw that she were with someone, they all kinda started to sulk and pout lightly, but kept watching her.

Gladion looked at the box a little. «And what’s this?»

Luna opened hers and revealed a bed of rise, as well as taking the top off, revealing more ingredients under it. «It’s called a bento box. Literally a lunch box. I find the ones they have here the better ones in the city.»

«Literally just a lunch box with whatever...» he said, looking down at it and opened it, revealing the same content that she had.

«A lunch box with everything you need.» she finished the sentence for him and picked up the chopsticks.

Gladion just watched her break the chopsticks apart, and picked up the ones he got, and did the same. He didn’t know how to use them, so he kept a ‘low key’ watch on Luna, on how she held them and used them. Trying to mimic it, he failed big time. Luna noticed and giggled softly, presenting her hand to him as to show him how she held them. She lightly explained how they are used and how to hold them, and Gladion trying and failing a couple of times.

«I’m fairly close to just start using my hands now...» he lightly hissed.

«Don’t do that!» she said to him in a hushed voice. «Just keep trying, and you’ll eventually get a hang of it.» she added shortly, waving her hand a little at him.

He just hummed in annoyance as a reply, but kept trying at least. Eventually, he managed to get it, kinda. It was clumsy, but at least he managed to eat anything out of the box. Gladion kept growling lightly while he were still struggling to eat, and Luna kept giggling softly, watching him struggle. He couldn’t help but to blush lightly as he kept making a fool of himself. The gang that were watching her, kept a good eye on them both, and were chuckling as they kept watching Gladion struggle with the chopsticks. Gladion and Luna eventually finished eating, and left the cafè.


	8. Sound Magic

Leaving the cafè, Gladion didn’t really know why he were following after her, other than it seemed like a good idea when leaving. After they left, the gang that came into the place, also left, and were following the two from a great distance, watching them closely. Both Luna and Gladion noticed and exchanged looks, giving a soft sigh.

«How come people keep following you around?» He asked.

«How should i know?» She replied, very sure that she haven’t done anything. «I’m sure i haven’t done anything...»

«Maybe, though i’m not sure i should believe in that.» he flatly replied.

Luna puffed her cheeks a little. «What do you know?» she hissed.

«Of course i don’t know anything about you. I just got the feeling.» he said dryly to her.

Luna just growled silently as they kept walking around the street. She didn’t know him, nor did he know her, but the feeling that they could talk freely to each other were strong, and were why they had been bumping into each other from time to time the past few days. The gang that were following them kept their distance, but kept talking and laughing loudly, which were quite the annoyance for people that were living around these streets. Luna mentioned that she were going over to Fuschia City, so she would start taking on the routes ahead of her, which he just nodded at. As they reached the start of the route, she kept going and he stopped, watching her.

She turned around, smiling softly. «Take care, and be safe.» she said with a cheerful tone in her voice.

«You take care of yourself.» he said, giving a nod backwards to the gang that were following them, but had stopped, keeping an eye on them.

She giggled softly. «I will do my best!» she said. She turned and waved as she started to walk off.

Gladion lightly waved back at her, and walked off into a different direction. The gang noticed that they parted ways, and started to discuss who they were going to follow, and ended up with Luna, as she were a girl and probably wouldn’t be to strong, nor struggle to much if they ambushed her. Agreeing on following her, they made their way to the route, following her closely. Luna were on her way on the route, taking her time and trying to enjoy the walk on the routes, listening to the birds that were passing her in the sky.

The gang were approaching her, rather quickly. «Hey, girlie!» one shouted her way.

She stopped and looked behind her. The glare she gave them made them stop, starting to second question themselves. «What?» she just replied flatly.

They hesitated to reply to her, as they haven’t been thinking it through fully of what she probably would do, other than her being a girl and would probably be quite weak. But after the glare she gave them, and kept on her face while looking at them, they started to question themselves again.

«Just...Just wondering why...a pretty girl like you wanders alone?» one said, stuttering slightly.

«Yeah...What clan are you from?» another one from the gang asked, crossing his arms and leaning forward, trying to be intimidating.

«You already know i won’t tell which clan i’m from, so why asking.» she replied dryly.

The gang were just looking at each other in confusion, but they knew it was a dumb question, as if they got the question, they would have replied the same way, or just told that they were from a different clan. One nodded and scoffed at her.

«Being clever there, girlie.» another said, taking a step forward.

«Hai...Hai...» she just replied and turned around, starting to walk off.

«Hey! We ain’t done with you!» several of them shouted at her in unison. Luna didn’t turn around and kept on walking off, not giving them any attention. They kept following after her for a while, at least until Luna got enough and confronted them in the middle of Route 17.

Gladion were just wandering around Celadon, not sure what he would be doing. He had eaten, and were holding the empty bento box, not sure what to do with it. Not really wanting to carrying it around for the rest of the day, he somewhat hurried over to the Inn, placing it in his room before walking out and off again. The day were still young, and it had already been an hour or two since Luna wandered over to Fuschia City. Not sure where to go, or what to do, he decided to get back into some training over at Route 7, and being more careful this time.

To get over to the street leading over to the route, he had to pass the path leading to route 16. Walking over and about to pass the path, he heard a lot of whining. So much so that Gladion got curious and got over to the route, taking a look. Getting on Route 16, he looked around until he found were the whining came from. It was the gang from earlier, that apparently decided to follow after Luna. Looking at them from a distance, he could see that they were all holding over their ears, and occasionally looking at their palms. All of their palms were stained in blood, which were from their own ears.

«Sound magic?» he muttered to himself, looking into the distance of the route.

Thinking back a little, Luna did tell him that she could only use wind magic and healing magic, but the wind affinity could be, somewhat, upgraded to a certain level, making the user able to use sound, or spirit magic, depending on what ‘route’ their affinity leaned towards the most. Knowing his were fire, he should be able to control lighting if he pushed it to the extreme, but lighting being some extremely dangerous spells to begin with, he stayed away from them, wanting nothing to do with them.

The guys in the gang were muttering and whining like kids, holding their hands over their ears and wiping the blood that came out of them. They kept muttering ‘stupid girl’ or ‘stupid woman’, which just made it more clear for him that Luna had been there, and harmed them to the point of them retreating like dogs with their tails between their legs. Looking out at the path of the route, he got really curious. Without noticing it himself, his body moved on it’s own, heading towards the route.

Walking down Route 16, he turned the corner, starting on Route 17. The day still being quite young, Gladion looked around, not really sure why. He just felt like there would be something else going on, and the urge to just find her again came over him. Continuing down through the tall grass and between the trees, he eventually found her, sitting down and leaning against a tree. He stopped, just observing her a little. She had her eyes closed, and looked quite beat.

«What did you do?» he asked as he approached her, not wanting to sound too concerned about her wellbeing, even though he clearly was.

She opened her eyes and looked over at him. «Nothing much...Just...Telling them off. Why?»

«You busted their eardrums, didn’t you.» he asked, stopping beside her and crossed his arms.

She averted her eyes somewhere else. «Don’t know what you are talking about.» she flatly replied.

«I’m not dumb. That was sound magic, the _‘next level’_ of the wind magic affinity.» he replied, narrowing his eyes at her.

She swallowed thickly, and gave a light groan. «Ugh...Yeah, i used some sound magic on them. So what?»

«Nothing wrong with it...I’m just...Impressed i guess...» he muttered, looking around at the surroundings. «Why are you even sitting there? Shouldn’t you be on your way to Fuschia City?»

She lightly pouted and nodded slightly. «Yeah, i should...If i could walk the rest that is.» she muttered, being a little embarrassed.

«What do you mean by that. As far as i know you can walk.» he replied to her, rolling his eyes a little.

«Sound magic drains my energy...» she muttered silently, a shade of pink appearing on her cheeks out of pure embarrassment.

«Didn’t catch that...» he said and squatted down beside her, looking at her and were intently listening.

She muttered it silently again, only for him to ask again what she said. «Sound magic drains my energy!» she hissed loudly as she stared right into his eyes.

Gladion lightly gulped, meeting her grey eyes that were looking at him with quite the intense look in them. She had gained a small pout on her lips as she kept looking rather annoyed at him. «Alright...Alright...If you say so...» he muttered, averting his eyes from hers, as well as a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

She huffed lightly. «Why are you here though?» she then asked him.

He didn’t think about why he wandered over to the route, and definitely didn’t want to tell her that she were the reason, being slightly worried about her after the gang came whining back to the city. «I just...Got curious...» he replied.

«Oh? Is that so?» she replied, giving a small shrug.

Luna looked away from him and fixed her eyes to the front of her, looking around. Gladion looked over at her, seeing that, apparently, after the spell, she had collapsed to the ground, being drained from the energy. Not knowing much about how a ‘next level’ spell like that would work, he could only imagine what it could do, both to the caster and the receiver of that attack.

«How could you tell it was from sound magic?» she then asked him.

«My sister used to play around with sound spells, and i were the dummy most of the time. I can’t even count anymore on how many times she have burst my eardrums.» he told her, lightly hissing it.

«I’m surprised you ain’t deaf yet then.» she added.

«Quite surprised myself actually...It would probably have been for the better even.» he said, thinking back at the loud parties Guzma and his people would have at his place in Alola.

Luna noticed that he got incredibly silent, and were somewhat growling to himself, which made her give a half hearted chuckle at him. He abruptly looked at her and realized that he had been growling lightly to himself, which made his face lit up.

«Anyway...» he started, clearing his throat. «How long are you going to stay around here?» he then asked her, gesturing at the surroundings.

«Until i get get up on my feet and walk off again.»

«Which means...?» he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

«Which means i don’t know when that will happen...It can take a few minutes, an hour or so, even days.» she added, still giving a small pout.

Gladion just nodded, looking around a little. Still being daytime, but knowing that it would take a while to get back to the city, he decided to do something he would never have done if he were in Alola. He moved closer to her and picked her up.

«Well then, princess. Can’t have you sitting around like this.» he said, trying to sound calmly, but were quite nervous.

Luna yelped. «W-w-what!? W-w-what are you doing!?»

«You said you probably can’t move for a while, so i’m just going to...carry you back to the city...» he muttered.

Gladion were fighting not to blush even more, as well as Luna were a blushing mess, her cheeks as red as they could get. Just help him to make it easier, she wrapped her arms around his neck, but didn’t look over at him. As she did, even Gladion became a blushing mess.

«It’s….it’s easier like...this….right?» she muttered somewhat silently.

«Very much so...Thank you.» he muttered back to her.

Starting to head towards Celadon again, Gladion couldn’t get over how light she felt, and generally how close he allowed himself to let her be. His heart were racing like crazy, and he were sure she could both tell and feel it. Luna, on the other hand, were as flustered as she could get, and the only thing on her mind were for him to put her down, but she also knew that he probably wouldn’t do that, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to walk off in a while, so she were low-key thankful. Continuing through the route, Gladion eventually got to busy watching where he were going, as he didn’t want to drop her. Luna calmed down a little, feeling quite comfortable for a change, but her heart kept pounding loudly in her chest. While Gladion were busy keeping his eyes on the path, Luna took a quick glance up at him. She quickly averted her eyes again, becoming a blushing mess again.

_He’s...quite...good looking...i guess…_

His well defined jawline, no blemishes in her eyes, and then there was his intense emerald green eyes. She slowly started to panic, but came to terms of it by trying to distract herself somehow, looking around the routes and the streets when they entered Celadon City again. It had started to get dark when they entered the city, and he carried her all the way to the Inn. She didn’t dare to say anything as he carried her all the way to his own room, as well as it seemed that he didn’t think to much about it when putting her down onto a chair.

«And why am i here…?» she asked him, looking at his room.

Gladion stood there, looking around at his room and just looked wide eyed at her, starting to panic. «Not what you think!!» he hissed.

«And what where i thinking?!» she hissed back at him.

«Uuh...» he hesitated, becoming a flustered and blushing mess. «...I’ll sleep on the fucking floor, you take the futon.» he lightly hissed, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks by looking to his side, making his bangs hide his face.

«Right...» she muttered and looked over at the futon on the side. «Get me over there then...» she muttered softly.

He sighed softly, and in his flustered state, picked her up again and carried her over to the futon. He gently sat her down, and were about to say something harsh and looked at her. At the same time, she looked up at him, their eyes meeting, their noses almost touching each other. Gawking over each other for a small second, they both looked into a different direction as fast as possible. He then let her go and moved away from her in a hurry.

«I’ll leave you to it...» he muttered and left, walking into the bathroom.

Luna just nodded and hummed softly. Gladion got into the bathroom and locked the door, and she could hear him give a loud groan as he put the water on in the sink, letting it run. Luna hesitated before she started to strip off some of the outer layers of her outfit, gently folding them and putting them on the side of the futon. She struggled a little, but eventually were in her undergarments. She got under the duvet after a while and turned her back towards the entrance. As she got herself ready, Gladion were panicking in the bathroom, trying to calm himself down by splashing water onto his face and taking a few deep breaths. While doing that, he unbuttoned the waistcoat he were wearing, as well a few buttons on the shirt of his, getting as comfortable as possible and ready to sleep on the floor for a change. After a while, he managed to calm down as much as possible and walked out, seeing her on the futon, seemingly already sleeping. He grabbed the extra blanket that were in the room, and sat down against the wall, opposite of her and threw the blanket around him, getting as comfortable as he could get. Hearing her soft breathing from her sleeping, he calmed down immensely, growing sleepy for each second that went by, and eventually managed to fall asleep.


	9. Rainy Day

Gladion woke up the next morning by the sound of water being poured into a container of some sort. Slowly opening his eyes, blinking a couple of times, he looked in front of him, seeing Luna sitting at the table, pouring water into a cup. He just looked at her, delicately pouring in water into the cup, adding a few tea leaves into it. She took a chopstick and stirred the leaves in the water, trying to get the most of the flavour out of them. She didn’t notice that he were looking at her, closely watching what she were doing.

«Slept well?» she suddenly asked, not looking over at him.

«You noticed i woke up?» he just asked, not thinking to much of it.

«Your breathing changed when you woke up.» she replied flatly. «Also...I hope you don’t mind me staying around for the day.» she added.

He just hummed softly, not being surprised at all. «How come?» he questioned her. Luna just pointed towards the window. He looked outside, seeing that it was raining and sighed, rolling his eyes a little. «Of course it had to start raining...» he muttered.

Luna just nodded and stopped stirring the tea she were making herself. «You want?» she then asked, putting the chopstick down onto the table.

Gladion took the blanket off and moved over to the table, sitting opposite of her. «Please.» he just said, his voice pretty husky from recently waking up.

Luna just nodded lightly. «Mochiron.» she flatly replied.

Luna took the other cup that were sitting around, poured water in it and added leaves, using the same chopstick she used for hers to stir the leaves around. Closely watching her, he found it quite fascinating the way she did it. The way she did it made it seem like it was something to do in quite the delicate way, and not rush it. She finished it and handed it to him and took her cup on hand, taking a sip.Gladion hesitated a little, but took a sip of it. To his surprise, it was quite sweet, and he were sure that she didn’t add anything to it, as well as he watched her make it.

She noticed the surprised expression on him and just smiled softly. «To bitter?» she asked.

«Quite the contrary...It’s rather sweet.» he muttered.

«Oh? Might be the leaves.» she said, taking another sip.

«What about the leaves?» he asked, looking down into the cup.

«They might be a bit on the old side, that’s all.» she replied softly. She looked over at him. «Slept well?» she repeated.

«Well enough.» he replied.

She just nodded and hummed softly, taking another sip and looked out of the windows, watching the rain pour down. Gladion did the same, looking out of the window, watching the rain fall down rapidly. Unconsciously, he kept repeating her name in his mind, drawing the conclusion that she had to be from the famous, and hidden Crane clan. Taking a quick look at her, she were quite similar looking to the famous woman named Lunala, which he found rather strange.

«Are you from the Crane clan?» he abruptly asked her.  
  
Luna had taken another sip of the tea, but as he asked, she almost choked on it. Collecting herself a little, she looked at him and put the cup down onto the table. «Why asking? And even so...why should i tell you what clan i’m from?»

«Curiosity, for most of the part.» he flatly replied.

She just narrowed her eyes at him. «And what clan are you from?» she asked, expecting him to get rather defensive about it.

«Aether. In Alola.» he replied dryly, taking a sip of the tea again, being rather calmly about it.

She just looked at him, not sure how to respond. «Well that was easy...» she muttered, shaking her head a little in shock and confusion. «Though, i don’t believe you asked me for what clan i’m from out of sheer curiosity.»

«Your name is just really familiar to a myth, or a legend in Alola. Probably the entire world even.» he said.

«And...what name is that?» she asked, tilting her head a little to the side.

«Lunala.» he flatly replied again. «She’s a famous woman from the Crane clan. And from the looks of it...» he started, looking at her.

Luna gulped slightly, waiting for him to finish the sentence, but he just kept looking at her. «And…?» she asked, wanting him to finish whatever he started to say.

«...You look eerily familiar to her.»

Luna didn’t know how to reply to that. Of course, she were from the Crane clan, but she also knew that that woman lived thousands of years ago, as well as being from Kanto, so there were bound to be people throughout the years that would look like her. She shaked her head and gave a half hearted laugh. «So...Because of that you think i’m from the Crane clan...I’ll take that. It’s quite the famous clan even.» She could feel the intense glare from him, and she started to cold sweat. «And of course, but all the info from the books about the war those years ago, she were from Kanto...And there are people bound to look similar to her throughout the years.» she added.

«True. I just find her name and yours a bit to similar.» He added, gulping down the rest of the tea.

Luna rolled her eyes. «Hai...hai...»

_ That’s a question to close to comfort… _

«Now that’s out of the world...Leave.» he said, crossing his arms.

«Huh…?» she muttered softly, looking at him in surprise. «Leave?»

«Yeah...Leave.» he hissed. «I’m literally paying for this room. And you were, literally, not invited.»

«But...You literally carried me in here!» she exclaimed, being utterly confused.

«Not denying that...» he muttered. «Just leave.» he added, hissing it.

«Whatever...I’ll leave you to it then.» she said, and slowly got up on her feet. She reached for the rest of her outfit, not taking it on and got her shoes on. She got over to the door and opened it. «Bye then, Mr. Grumpy Pants.»

«Get lost.» he hissed.

«Tch...» she hissed and walked out, slamming the door shut.

As she slammed the door, he flinched at it. He felt bad for throwing her out like that, but after given it some thought while he watched her make the tea, he came to the conclusion to push her away before he found himself get more attached to her. He were still wandering in the dark about what he were going to do in Kanto, but were sure that he didn’t want to get a woman. Sitting there, he looked at the tea cup she had been using, and started to slowly feel bad for what he just did. Resting his elbows on the table, he put his face in his hands, groaning loudly, sighing. Luna walked out and into the entrance area, as well as outside. She took a seat at the bench that were placed outside of the door, placing the piece of the outfit on her lap to keep herself, somewhat, warm. While walking out, her legs were shivering and feeling like jelly. She gave a soft sigh, knowing that it would definitely take longer this time before she would be able to get anywhere properly.

«Seems like Fuschia City have to wait for my return...» she muttered to herself, sighing.

She sat there, looking at the rain fall down to the ground, as well as listening to it, calming down slightly by it. She closed her eyes, just listening to the sounds around the place. She sat there for at least an hour before someone poked her on her shoulder, which made her flinch and look at the person who were now sitting down beside her, giving her a warm smile.

«Long time no see.» he said softly.

«Chad...?» she muttered, looking at him with wide eyes. Her surprised expression slowly turned to a soft smile. «Long time no see indeed.»

«Sitting here to wait for the rain to stop?» he asked, looking out in front of them.

She looked out in front of herself as well, smiling softly. «More or less. Don’t want to get soaked.»

He nodded. «I thought you were on your way to Fuschia City?»

«Oh, well...I was, but things happened and i ended up here again.» She replied.

«Oh? What happened?» he asked, looking over at her with a worried expression on his face.

«A gang followed be, and i had to...swoosh them away...So to speak. It took a great deal of my energy...so...» she said, sighing softly as she hung her head a little.

«A gang? Well damn...At least you are safe. These gangs coming to Fuschia City is ridiculous...And they are, most of them, all from Saffron.» he said, giving a soft sigh himself.

Luna just nodded and hummed softly. She didn’t mention that Gladion helped her, much less, she didn’t want to think about him after he threw her out, somewhat knowing that she probably wouldn’t be able to get anywhere. «Why are you in Celadon after?» she asked him.

«Oh, well..My father is doing some business in a building close by, and i just wanted to take a stroll, looking around.» he replied. He looked at her and gave her a soft grin. «Been a while since i have been around Celadon after all.»

Luna giggled softly and nodded. «What a day to take a stroll on.» she said.

Chad gave a soft chuckle. «I know...But hey...I saw you again and decided to say ‘Hi’ at least.»

She nodded. «Well...Hello again.» she said in a sarcastic tone.

He mocked a salut. «Hi again.» he said softly, looking at her.

Ever since the first time Chad had seen her, he had been crushing hard. To the point that he would do anything for her, and even to her. He softly muttered her name, making her look at him with a soft smile. He slowly started to lean in, and as he got closer, he went for a kiss. She quickly backed off, turning her head away from him, giving a nervous laughter. He stopped, not really understanding why she backed off, and started to sulk a little.

«What are you doing, Chad…?» she muttered nervously.

«Oh...I’m sorry...» he said, backing off in a hurry. «You just looked...really beautiful...» he added, trying to talk himself out of it.

Luna had known him for a while, but there were always the uneasy feeling whenever he were around, so whenever she saw him in the city she were in, she would do her best to avoid him. He generally creeped her out, though, Luna were too polite to tell him, not wanting to ruin the small friendship they already had through the years. She just nodded and were blushing madly, not looking back at him after that, as well as panicking.

_ Help…Gladion...Please help me... _

Chad kept quiet for a while, just looking at her. «I’m really sorry, Luna...I’m an idiot...»

«I wouldn’t say that...but yeah...That move was...dumb.» she muttered. Thinking a little about it, she didn’t know why she were calling for help from Gladion in her mind, she couldn’t really explain it, nor think of any good reason behind the sudden though.

«I’m really sorry...» Chad said. «I better get going at least...My father is soon done i guess, so i better be around to leave.» he said. Chad got up from the bench, and took a step forward before turning towards her. «It was nice to see you again at least...and again. I’m sorry.»

«Sorry for sending out mixed...signals…?» she muttered, really sure that she didn’t give any signals to him, ever, that she were into him.

«Don’t be sorry, it’s my fault for taking them the wrong way. It won’t happen again!» he said and bowed deeply.

«O-okay...» she stuttered, not sure what to tell him.

«Until next time, miss Luna.» he added and turned around, walking off and out into the rain.

As Chad walked off, he wasn’t looking to happy. He knew mostly every move that Luna made, and were waiting for her in Fuschia City for her arrival. When she didn’t show up, he took it upon himself to try and find her, which he eventually did. At least he knew that she wouldn’t lie, as they had been knowing each other for a few years, but the fact that he were crushing like mad on her, and had occasionally made a move, made him even more angry that she didn’t feel the same way. All he had done for her, and she still didn’t share the same feelings as him. Almost stomping his way over to Route 16, he decided to get over to Fuschia City again, waiting there until she would appear again, or if he got news that she changed her route. Luna kept sitting there, feeling really uncomfortable, and were a blushing mess.

_ I cried for help from Gladion...Why did i do that…I don’t even know the edgy idiot… _

She closed her eyes tightly and shaked her head, trying to shake the thought out of herself, but to no avail, as it kept lingering around, as well as the blush became more apparent on her cheeks. The woman that had been around the entrance hall of the Inn had kept an eye on Luna, and seeing that it was raining, she walked out to her, offering her a room to stay in. Luna nodded and accepted the offer and got up on her feet, doing her best to not collapse, as her legs were feeling like jelly and she kept wobbling over to the room she got offered. He woman handed her the key to the room and told her that she would come by later with something to eat, if she wanted anything.

«I would love to. Thank you.» Luna replied, bowing deeply to her.

The woman left, and Luna quickly found a seat around the table, sighing loudly in relief. She finally felt somewhat safe, being inside a warm room, and away from the rain. She put the piece of her outfit she haven’t put on yet onto the table, folding it neatly again. She took off the bag around her waist, digging after a tie to tie up her hair with. Putting her hair up in a ponytail, she sat there and waited for the woman to arrive with something to eat for her, which she eventually did. She got the food, which were a lot as she just kept staring at it a little. The woman gave a soft chuckle and told her to enjoy it. Luna nodded and watched the woman leave the room she gave her, leaving her be as she started to eat on what she got. Slowly eating the food she got, she also started to slowly feel lonely, which was quite weird being her. For as long as she could remember, she had been wandering around Kanto and Jotho alone, meeting and helping new people, and thinking back at it, she never felt lonely before.

She finished some of the food before pushing it away from her, and crossing her arms, using them as a pillow when she put her head down onto the table. Sitting in that position, she eventually fell asleep, being lulled by the rain that were pouring down heavily.


	10. Dream or Vision?

Luna woke up a little later, feeling rather stiff and groggy after sleeping hunched over on the table like that. She groaned lightly as she sat up, yawning a little while looking at the tray of food in front of her. The food on it had gotten cold, indicating that she had been sleeping for a while. She kept looking at the tray, and without noticing, a single tear dropped from her eye. She quickly wiped it and folded her arms again, putting them on the table, going back to the sleeping position she had.

«Watashi wa hontõni bakadesu...» she muttered silently.

Gladion, on the other hand, had been trying to get his mind on other things by starting to read one of the books that were in his room. Doing his best to keep himself distracted were hard, as he kept feeling horrible to telling her off, as well as telling her that after helping her. With a sigh, he closed the book and looked outside of the window. The rain had stopped, and with that, he decided to get some fresh air before feeling himself getting more frustrated with himself. Getting up from the chair, he found his jacket and put it on, and walked out of his room, heading towards the front door of the Inn.

It had been a few hours since he told her off, so he didn’t expect to see her. Getting on his shoes, he took a quick look around the street before walking off. Turning a corner, he noticed a guy standing around, looking rather angry as he kept muttering to himself. Not paying too much attention to what he were muttering to himself, Gladion took a notice of the guy as he passed him, heading towards Route 7, just to have a place to wander too.

Chad noticed that Gladion gave him a look as he passed, but didn’t give him any more attention than that. He kept muttering about Luna and didn’t understand why she didn’t like him back the same way he liked her.

«I have been nothing but kind, sweet and supportive to you...» he muttered, tightening his fist. «I’ll make you mine...Eventually...Even if i have to force you.» Chad slowly started to smile, lightly chuckling as he kept imagine what he would be doing. His chuckling slowly became more of a soft laughter. «Yeah...I’ll make you mine.»

He kept laughing softly as he started to walk off, heading towards Route 17, planning to get himself psyched up there, but as quickly he got to the route, he stopped and turned around, looking at the city. Procrastinating a little, he decided on the stop to just stay around, hanging out with Luna whenever she were free. He walked into a different street, knowing that there were another Inn close by Route 7. Gladion were around Route 7, just looking around the place as he saw Chad wandering up to the Inn close by.

Gladion noticed he had quite the mischievous grin on his face, and he didn’t like it, getting the shivers from it. Watching him walk into the Inn, Gladion were on his way back to the Inn he were staying at, as it seemed that the rain would start soon again. As he passed him, he could hear him mutter a few things.

_ She’ll be mine… _

_ Eventually… _

_ All mine… _

He muttered and chuckled softly. Gladion felt himself getting quite disturbed and took a mental note of him, and that was to stay away from him at all cost. He didn’t know who he were talking about, but hoped that Luna had nothing to do with him. Passing the Inn, and walking down the street, he couldn’t shake the feeling of that Luna might had something to do with the guy, but it wasn’t in his place to ask, not after throwing her out.

«Well, ain’t i a genius...Possible new accuatiance and i threw them away as usual...» he muttered to himself as he turned the corner, seeing the Inn he was staying at in the distance.

As he approached the Inn, the rain started in a second, pouring down heavily. Gladion cursed and ran for it, getting under the roof as quickly as possible. Getting under the half roof, he shook his jacket a little, and ran his hand through his bangs, pushing them to the side a little. Gladion stood there a little, watching other people hurry to get under some roof for a few seconds before he walked in, and headed towards his room. On the way, he met up with one of the people working there, and he took the opportunity to ask to get some food over to his room, which the person nodded and obliged to. He then got into his room and decided to take a quick shower, but before he could even get going on that, one of the staff from the Inn knocked on the door, and had brought food over to him. He opened the door and saw the tray with a few food items on it.

«Thanks.» he said and took the tray out of the person’s hands.

The staff member nodded and bowed before walking off. Gladion closed the door and put the tray on the table, looking over what he got. There was nothing new, at least what he could see there was nothing new. Deciding that he would just eat later, he got into the bathroom, looking at the tub that was there for a little. With a shrug, he stripped down and took a quick shower and then got into the tub, trying to relax and keep his mind busy with other things. Getting into the tub, he got as comfortable as possible, looking up at the ceiling and around the room. He let out a sigh, getting more into the water and closed his eyes, trying to enjoy the silence. As he kept himself soaked, he slowly felt a lump form in his chest and throat. He were quite used to feel it back in Alola, but after coming to Kanto, the feeling were almost gone, and he didn’t know why, nor could he find an explanation to it. He kept his eyes closed, ignoring it to the best of his ability, feeling his mind grow heavy and eventually snoozed off.

Luna, in the room she were in, had also decided to take a bath, just getting some filth off and the uneasy feeling from when Chad started to lean closer to her. She kept scrubbing the soap on her, but whatever she did, the uneasy feeling didn’t subside. After scrubbing so hard that her skin started to turn red, she washed off the soap, looking at her intense red arms. She sighed softly, and folded her arms on the edge of the tub, resting her chin on top while she closed her eyes. She kept her attention to the silence and the sound the rain made on the outside, hitting the window. Focusing on it, she, herself, snoozed off.

Laying in the tub, there started to be a second presence in there with her. She didn’t feel intimidated, much less, scared. It felt quite natural. She could feel her breath starting to get heavy as a hand gently trailed down her side, soft lips placing soft kisses on her shoulders, as well as gently brushing her hair away from her back, placing a few soft kisses on the base of her neck, and down to between her shoulder blades. Feeling the hot breath in front of her, feeling that her lips were close to another’s, she slightly opened her eyes, wanting to see who where in there with her. In front of her, she saw a pair of green eyes looking into hers. With that, she flinched and sat up straight in the tub, her eyes wide.

In a state of panic, she covered herself with her hands and looked around, not seeing anyone. Taking a deep breath, she let it out with a sigh, leaning over the edge of the tub and reached for a towel. She stood up and stepped out of the tub, starting to dry herself up. Before she finished, she took another quick look around the bathroom, as well as in the water, making sure that it was only her mind playing tricks with her. She did snooze off, but the feeling were still lingering, and it gave her the shivers while thinking about it. She hurried and dried herself up and put on her undergarments. Once she were in her clothes, she walked out into the main room, hesitating a little when she peeked over the edge of the doorframe, seeing if anyone else were in the room of hers.

Finding no one, she sighed in relief and started to dry her hair. Walking out, she took a quick look outside, seeing that the rain were still pouring down strong. Dragging the curtains over the windows, she sat down at the table, drying her hair as much as possible before she put it up on a ponytail, keeping it away from her back as much as possible. Seeing that there were a few books in the room, she took one she found interesting and started to read.

Gladion, on the other hand, had a similar ‘dream’., the only difference between hers and his, were that he were the one doing the actions, and it made him feel quite uncomfortable. He didn’t even know who it was, only that the girl, presumably, had grey eyes. Not lingering around to much, he hurried out of the tub, wrapping a towel around his waist and took another for his hair. Standing around in the bathroom, he quickly dried off his hair, and took a quick look at himself in the mirror.

He sighed softly. «As per usual...I look like shit...» he muttered and walked out of the bathroom.

Finding new and clean clothes, he quickly put them on, and threw the towels off towards the bathroom, and sat down on the futon, reaching for some of the food he got earlier, unwrapping it and starting to eat. Leaning against the wall while munching on the piece of food, he looked around the room, rethinking of the dream that he had, which felt to real to even be a dream. Luna in her room were slightly panicking still, not sure why she had such a real life dream, and she couldn’t pinpoint who’s eyes it was. She had seen her fair share of people with green eyes, and that in itself made it even harder.

_ Is this some kind of vision? What does it mean? This can’t just be a dream...it felt too real to be a dream… _

Sitting in the chair, she slammed her fists onto the table in pure frustration, groaning. After she slammed her fists onto the table, she grimaced in pain and hung her head, giving off a sigh as she started to rub her own hands gently. She pouted and lightly shaked her hands, trying to shake the pain off. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door. She got up from the chair and slowly found her way to the door, opening it, seeing the woman from earlier. She looked worried and asked if everything was alright, and that a bypasser of her room had heard a loud bang. Luna laughed nervously, waving her hands in front of her, telling the older woman that she just accidentally hit her knees on the table while being in deep thought. The older woman nodded and gave a soft chuckle.

«Oh my. Being in deep thought can be quite dangerous.» she said softly, clearly saying it out of sarcasm.

Luna just nodded. «Yeah...I figured that out the hard way...» she muttered, laughing softly.

The older woman were holding a small tray of food items, and presented it to her. «Haven’t seen you after you got inside of here, so here’s some food, darling.»

Luna smiled sweetly to her and took the tray on hand. «Oh, thank you...That’s very kind of you.» she said softly.

The woman nodded and bowed, telling her to enjoy it, and whenever she were done, just to put the tray outside of the door, and some of the staff would pick it up when they saw it. Luna nodded and watched the woman walk down the corridor, disappearing around a corner. Luna muttered ‘thank you’ in Kantonese and stepped inside of her room again, closing the door. She put the tray onto the table and sat down again, just looking at it and the few food items on it. She sighed and pushed the tray away, laying her head down on the table again. She blushed when the thought back at the dream, making her conscious about the soft and gentle touches and that they kept lingering on her skin. She closed her eyes tightly, slightly shaking and banging her head onto the table.

_ Stupid brain!! I didn’t need this today!! _


	11. Fight between Fire

Months started to pass, and Gladion moved over to the next city, staying in Saffron for a while, but ended up getting out of the big city quickly, not finding it interesting, as well as it was to loud for his liking, gotten quite used to the silence Celadon offered him. While moving around and back and forth from Cerulean City and Saffron City, Luna had moved along, and every time they saw each other, they would either ignore or turn around, not wanting anything to do with each other. Though, it stung every time they avoided each other, but were still drawn to the same places most of the time, bumping into each other.

It came to the point that they both thought they were stalking each other. Chad had also been following Luna, which Gladion noticed, as well as the two had been interacting occasionally, seemingly having fun and talking. He could also see that the guy were doing whatever to make a move, which Luna shut down everytime, and ended up avoiding him for a while. Gladion were really curious of what their relationship were, and couldn’t help to feel jealous of how they were interacting with each other.

Luna were getting more and more vary of Chad, as he kept moving into her, and she had to keep shutting him down, telling him to stop, only for her to avoid him a few days later. Chad didn’t do anything about it, other than to keep a close eye on her whenever she told him that she needed some time alone. Luna were on her way to Mt. Moon, wanting to practice some of her clan’s spells out of people's sight and reach. But with Chad around, she kept herself lingering around Saffron and Cerulean City. She were also feeling bad about avoiding Gladion, thinking that he probably didn’t know how to interact with certain people properly, which ended up with him throwing her out of his room those months back. She were still quite upset about it, but felt it was wrong to avoid him all the time. Gladion, on the other hand, didn’t know how to fix it and whenever they crossed paths, he were internally panicking, but whenever they passed, he couldn’t help but to look back at her, every time, just thinking that a last look couldn’t hurt. With that mindset of his, she just became more attractive to him, finding her more and more beautiful every time. Luna didn’t notice that he did look at her after she passed, she just kept her head high, not wanting to give him any attention.

This day were definitely going to be different, but no one could anticipate what would happen. Chad had invited Luna out to meet him somewhere on Route 24, though, he didn’t specifically tell her where on the route. She thought it was a new attempt on confessing to her, which she knew she would turn down and reject him all over again. She gave him kudos for being persistent, but at this point, it were to much. With a sigh, she got onto the route and headed over, casually walking the path and looking around for a sign of Chad anywhere. Looking around, she eventually found a few sticks that were conveniently placed into an arrow, pointing in a direction. Thinking it was Chad’s doing, she followed the signs she found, ending up quite deep in the surrounding forest. She came to a massive clearing in the middle of nowhere and stepped out, looking around.

«Chad? It’s not funny if you are planning to scare me...» she said, rather loudly. At least loud enough for him to hear her in any of the surrounding areas around the clearing.

There was a massive tree in the middle, which she found quite interesting and walked up to it, looking up at it, trying to see if Chad were hiding between the leaves or somewhere up on the branches. Not seeing anyone, she sighed and hung her head.

«I’m glad you could make it.»

Luna flinched and did a 180 turn, looking directly behind her, seeing that Chad were standing there and were slowly approaching her, taking one step at a time. «Chad? Why did you ask me to get here?» She looks around a little. «It’s pretty...i guess, but i don’t get why you would want me out here.»

«I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t run away.» he said, giving her rather a creepy soft smile.

«What do you mean by that?» she asked, and took a step back.

«Just as i said it.» he added, and snapped his fingers, keeping the creepy grin on his face.

As he snapped his fingers a fire ring came around the clearing, and Luna became vary, watching his every step that he took towards her. He muttered that she couldn’t escape or even try, knowing fully well that her wind magic would make the fire even worse and possible create a massive forest fire. She swallowed thickly, starting to panic as she kept looking around, trying to find a way out. Chad saw that her eyes were scanning the place and just gave a chuckle at her.

«Nowhere to run now, Luna.» he said, smiling softly. He looked down, his hair casting a shadow over his eyes before he looked up at her again, with a rather serious expression. «Now i finally can make you mine...» he muttered and stepped towards her, Luna gulping and stepping backwards, her back towards the tree as it stopped her from going anywhere.

Gladion were wandering around as usual, getting to know the city more, and were planning to get in some more practice. He had finally gotten some practice in on the bigger fire spells, and he felt it was safer, knowing that Cerulean City were mostly consistent of people who used water magic, so if something went wrong, he could get help rather quickly. Passing the park that were in the middle of the city, he noticed a massive formation of smoke coming from Route 24. Remembering that he saw Luna walk over to the route made him worried, starting to walk towards the path. As he continued walking through the city, several people had noticed it, but didn’t do anything about it, other than to just watch in surprise, asking others around them if they knew what it was.

Continuing to walk through the city, he eventually started to run, getting overly worried about her, and were sure that she now were in some sort of trouble. Being affiliated with the fire element himself, he could, to a sense, sense where the fire were around the route and how big it was. In the distance, he could hear the cackling the fire would usually make. As he got to the spot, the massive fire walls covered a massive area, but in between the flames, which broke up occasionally, he could see Luna, looking distressed while the creep from Celadon were pinning her to the tree in the middle. He couldn’t hear anything from what they said, but could clearly make out that she were telling him off and to stop. Gladion were about to jump through the flames, but got stopped by someone placing a hand on his shoulder.

«Don’t. You’ll get hurt if you do.» the woman who stopped him said.

«Hurt? I couldn’t care less when there are someone in there getting more hurt as we speak!» he hissed.

The woman took her hands off of his shoulder and just at him with a puzzled expression. «There are people on the other side of this? How can you tell?» she asked.

«Being affiliated with fire does give me some advantage.» he replied, looking at the wall made of fire, trying to predict where the wall would crack next, making it easier to get through.

The woman just looked at him. «You are not from Kanto, i can tell that much.» she said.

«I’m from Alola, if that makes any sense.» he said and hurried past her, running down alongside the wall of fire, thinking that he finally predicted a place where the wall would crack a little.

The woman just watched him run off and shook her head before she looked over at the wall of fire in front of her. She knew that she couldn’t put it out on her own, and decided to get back to the city, get more people that knew powerful water spells to help killing the fire. Gladion ran alongside the wall and found a crack and didn’t hesitate to jump over it. As he jumped over, the opened started to close and managed to get the jacket he had on catch on fire. In a hurry, not wanting to get burnt, he threw the jacket off, seeing it burn up in seconds. He looked over at the tree, seeing the guy pinning her up against it, while he were starting to feel her up her thigh. Luna clearly were looking horrified, and didn’t know what she would be doing without causing the fire surrounding them to get even bigger and create a massive forest fire. Gladion could hear what he said, about finally making her his and that he clearly were mad at her for not sharing the same feelings after years of knowing each other.

She wriggled her body, trying to get loose from the grip he had on her. «Let me go!» she shouted, trying to sound intimidating, but failed, as her voice were shaking to much.

«I have done nothing to be nice and sweet to you! Why can’t you just love me back!» he snarled.

«Chad! Stop!...Please!» she said loudly, her voice cracking.

«That’s not really how you treat a lady, is it?»

Both Chad and Luna got surprised by the extra voice that came from the side, Luna more so when she looked over, seeing Gladion swinging his fist at him, punching him. Chad took the punch and fell over by it, but kept the grip around Luna’s wrist, dragging her with him down. Luna yelped as she got dragged down onto the ground with him, as well as Chad groaned in pain, and released her. As he let go of her wrist, Gladion took the opportunity to drag her up to her feet, pulling her behind him. Luna didn’t have time to react properly as she got up on her feet again, being pulled behind him. She looked up at him for a brief second, only to look down at Chad again as he groaned in pain and got up on his feet, taking a few steps away from Gladion. Adjusting his lower jaw a little, he looked up at him, meeting his intense emerald green eyes, that clearly were showing that he were furious by the scowl he had on his face.

«Why didn’t you use your wind magic to get out of here.» Gladion asked silently to her.

«I can’t...» she muttered softly. «The wind magic would just make the fire around this place worse...»

«Got it.» he replied, looking over at Chad.

Chad chuckled softly, which creeped them both out. He wiped his mouth with his arm, getting his cheek stained with a streak of blood. «Talking up others as well, Luna? You wound me...You are supposed to be mine, and mine only.» he said, running his hand through his bangs, not looking to happy over at Gladion. «And who the fuck do you think who you are?»

«I already know i’m an idiot, and that’s about all you need to know.» Gladion replied, taking a small step to the side, in front of Luna, hiding her more behind him.

«Good we can agree that you are an idiot then.» Chad said, cracking a joint in his neck, inhaling deeply.

«You better move to the side...» Gladion silently muttered to Luna, sensing that Chad were going to shoot him an attack pretty soon.

«What…?» was all she managed to mutter before he pushed her to the side in a hurry, falling down to the ground.

Chad had muttered a spell in silence, and Gladion got Luna out of the way, barely managing to deflect the attack. Luna looked up at him, seeing him getting engulfed in flames. She gasped in horror at the sight, watching Chad just attacking him with a powerful fire spell.

Chad started to laugh. «You can’t escape the flames of mine...I’ll make sure you burn to a crisp.» he shouted between the maniacally laughing.

«I would like to see you try.»

Chad got caught off guard when Gladion launched at him again through the flames, giving him another punch in his face. As Chad fell down to the ground again, Gladion’s shirt had caught on fire on one of his sleeves, so he patted it down quickly to kill the flames. Chad groaned and quickly got up on his feet again, and launched at him, aiming for his head, but aimed to low, and gave him a hard punch on his torso. Gladion hunched over a little, gasping lightly for his breath as Chad gave him a new punch, hitting him on his lower jaw, making Gladion fall back to the ground. Chad muttered a spell under his breath, and aimed at Gladion. As Gladion hit the ground, looked up at the guy for a brief second, only to roll over to the side, quickly getting up on his feet again.

«You better stay fucking still!!» Chad snarled at him.

«Make me.» Gladion hissed back, wiping his mouth.

Luna were just standing there, watching in horror and not sure what she would be doing, if she even could do anything at all while watching the two fight and throw quite the powerful fire spells at each other, as well as giving a few kicks and punches whenever it seemed fit in the situation either one of them were in. It seemed that Chad had the upper hand, knowing more spells that Gladion, though, it didn’t stop the Alolan to fight back with what he got. Luna moved towards the tree, hiding as she kept watching the two keep going. She had no idea what to do, other than to watch and hope that they would stop.


	12. The Crane

The fight kept going on, and both of them were quite beaten up, but they kept on going. Luna just stood and watched from the sideline, and had no idea what to do other than to watch the two go out on each other. Throwing punches, kicks and fire spells at each other, Chad were feeling close to win, as Gladion didn’t use any fire spells that were considered powerful, though, Gladion didn’t want to risk throwing out a powerful spell, knowing that he didn’t fully know how to use it, as well as he didn’t want to risk hurting Luna while she were around.

Chad launched and punched Gladion in his abdomen, making him hunch over, receiving a knee to his jaw. «Getting stale, eh?» Chad muttered humorously.

Gladion had fallen down to the ground after the hit onto his jaw. Spitting out some blood and adjusting his lower jaw slightly, he just smirked up at him. «I could say the same.» he muttered at him, wiping his mouth as he got up on his feet again.

Chad growled. «Everything would have gone as planned if you just didn’t show up!» he snarled loudly at him. «She’s mine! And mine only!» he added, shouting it.

Gladion wiped smirk off of his face. «Couldn’t care less.» he replied.

Luna were just listening, but as Gladion said that, Chad lost it, muttering quite the powerful spell under his breath. Luna panicked and shouted over at Chad to stop him. Chad gave Gladion an emotionless look, getting into a stance and ready to fire at him. As Chad aimed at him, they both started to feel quite lightweight, starting to hover. Chad lost his aim and stance, starting to slightly panic as they were starting to float. Gladion know for sure that he didn’t do anything, much less, Chad couldn’t do things like this, it wasn’t even a spell that someone that were affiliated with fire could be able to do. As they both were slowly getting more and more above the ground, Chad were slowly moving backwards, floating on his back, while Gladion were drifting forwards, floating on his front. They couldn’t do much in the situation, but Gladion could see that the ground were somewhat pulsing, and as he noticed that, he looked over at Luna, to make sure that she were alright.

His eyes grew wide as he looked over at her, seeing that she were the one doing it to them. She looked rather serious and were in some kind of a trance, as her eyes were strongly glowing. She were in the middle of a massive arcane circle, which were only used for ancient magic spells, as well as a few powerful ones. The pulsing on the ground were frequent, and came from the circle she was standing in the middle of.

«Ancient gravity magic...» he muttered under his breath, quite surprised that she knew how to do it.

Luna didn’t know what she were doing, and the spell, that started as a small wind spell, just to separate the two, turned into something more and quite dangerous. She were struggling to keep it up, feeling her body shivering from the intense pressure as she kept holding it. Gladion kept an eye on her, but as she started to move her hands, the pulsing from the arcane circle became more violent. Something seemed off for him, and as quickly the thought came to his mind, a white aura-like apparition of a crane appeared behind her as she made a quick hand movement, making the spell accelerate and slam the two, hard, onto the ground. Both Gladion and Chad groaned as they ended on the ground, feeling themselves being pulled down. Chad were laying on his back, growling and hissing as he struggled, trying to get up. Gladion were laying on his front, doing the same, trying to get up. As quickly they got slammed down, and started to struggle to get up again, Gladion looked over at Luna again. The arcane circle disappeared, the pulsing stopped, as well as she collapsed onto the ground, laying there lifeless.

Gladion were just looking over at her in horror, almost sure that she had killed herself in the process of that spell. They could hear people on the other side of the fire wall, chattering and shouting that they should kill the fire as quickly as possible. As Gladion heard their voices, he started to try and get up, but the gravity spell were a strong one, and the effect were still lingering, even after it had stopped. Chad noticed that Gladion started to struggle to get up, and decided to do the same.

«I’m not letting you get over to her!» he hissed at him.

«Fuck you too!» Gladion snarled, managing to get up a little, looking over at Luna.

The people outside of the fire wall managed to put out a good portion of the wall, so they could look inside of the place it surrounded, only to see three people laying flat on the ground. One of the water users were about to step inside, but got stopped by the same woman who were talking to Gladion earlier.

«Don’t! The spell around this place is still going strong, and you don’t want to feel that.» she said, looking at the two males that were struggling to get up, knowing fully well that there had been a powerful gravity spell been cast, and that were still working. «You two okay!?» she shouted over at the two who were laying there.

«Never better...» Gladion hissed.

Chad chuckled. «Seems like you need more or a beating then.» he said.

«Don’t tempt me to reply to that...» he snarled.

«Don’t move! You’ll literally break your back or something if you keep on trying to get up!» she shouted over at them, scanning the area and saw Luna laying close to the tree, unconscious.

«All good then...» Gladion hissed.

Struggling and managing to get up on his four, panting heavily as he kept struggling to just keep that position, his arms shaking from the immense pressure from the spell that were pulling him down. The woman just facepalmed at the sight, sighing and thinking that he would definitely die, but gave him praise for being persistent. Chad were slowly trying to get over to his front, struggling to get up as well, but were, more or less, well ‘planted’ to the ground. Looking over at Gladion, he snarled a few Kantonese insults over at him, to which Gladion just rolled his eyes at. All of a sudden there was a loud cracking sound, and everyone stopped doing what they were doing, looking around, trying to figure out where it came from. As the sound came, Gladion face planted, and the woman outside of the spell area just watched him go down in horror, thinking that he broke his back.

«OOF!!»

Chad cackled at the sound, which made Gladion growl and got up, rather easy. As he moved to sit, he didn’t realize he did until he ran his hand over his face in annoyance, giving off a soft groan. The woman on the side just watched in surprise, not sure how he managed to do it.

«He broke out of the spell...How?» she muttered silently to herself, looking at him.

Gladion just looked at his hand for a second before shifting his gaze over to Chad, who were looking up at him in surprise. In that second, Gladion got up and started to walk off. Chad tried to move to grab his leg, but since the spell were still quite strong and working on him, he didn’t manage to move much, and growled loudly.

«Stay away from her!» he snarled at Gladion.

Gladion scoffed and didn’t bother to reply as he hurried over to her. As he got over to her, he sat down and pulled her up to his lap. He turned her head towards him, and felt incredibly guilty as he held her up. Not sure if she still were alive, he felt for her pulse and a sense of relief came over him as he could feel her still breathing. Holding her limp body close, he could feel his heart tightened in his chest, feeling incredibly guilty and responsible for what had happened. As the gravity spell slowly weakened, Chad slowly got up, looking over at Gladion, who were holding Luna close, a bit to close for his liking. As he managed to get up on his feet he launched, sprinting over as quickly as possible. Gladion had none of it and shot him a glare, doing a quick hand movement. Chad stopped as Gladion shot a piece of lighting his way, it hitting the ground in front of him. Chad looked at the ground in both shock and surprise, before looking over at Gladion again.

«YOU are the one who should STAY the fuck AWAY.» he snarled at him.

Chad were about to fire a spell at him, not caring that Luna were in the range of fire, but got stopped when a hand came to his shoulder. The woman from earlier and a few of her people were walking in, scattering around to put out the rest of the fire wall. She gestured for some of her people to get up, and as they were around her, they told them to stay around Chad, making sure that he didn’t try and attack or do anything of the sorts while she went up to Gladion, who were being overly protective over Luna. Her people were taking him a little further away, while she walked up and squatted down beside them.

«She alive?» she asked.

«Yeah...She’s breathing at least.» he muttered, looking down at her.

«Name’s Misty.» she said softly and calmly. «As long as she’s breathing, she’ll probably be fine. Do you even know what happened here?» she then asked, looking around the place.

«That idiot...» he started, looking over at Chad, feeling his anger rise at the mere sight of him. «...were harassing her, and i just managed to catch it before it got worse...» he added, looking at Misty.

Misty nodded and got the memo. «At least there is a few good guys like you around. I’m sure she’ll be grateful when she wakes up again.»

Misty looked at him, and could see that he had taken quite the beating. She then asked him how he managed to use a lighting spell, to which he just shaked his head at, telling her that he didn’t know himself and that it just happened. That reply to her were quite the surprise, as it was the first time she had heard something like that. Not thinking to much about it, Misty got up on her feet again, and told Gladion that she would leave Luna to him before she walked over to Chad, that were standing with two other guys, but had his eyes on Luna and Gladion, scowling at them. Misty didn’t like the look he was giving them, and snapped her fingers in front of his face, making him look down at her instead.

After sitting around for a little longer, Gladion got up on his feet, lifting up Luna in the process. Slowly starting to walk off, he passed Chad, who gritted his teeth at the sight, not admitting defeat. Since there were people around, he didn’t do anything, as he didn’t want to get in more trouble than he already were in, being scolded by Misty and put in handcuffs by some police folks. Gladion didn’t look at him as he passed, and continued out of the forest, finding the path on Route 24. Getting onto the path, he felt his arms getting numb, mostly because of the gravity spell earlier, as he were struggling, using quite a lot of strength to just get up. He continued over to Cerulean City, and the Inn that he were staying in. As he got into the entrance, a few of the staff members gasped in horror at the sight, to which he just asked them to get a doctor to his room. Gladion didn’t want to take any chances, and wanted to be sure that she would be fine.

Getting into his room there, he placed her on the futon and sat back, leaning against the wall, just looking down at her. He sighed loudly, leaning his head back, resting it against the wall as he could feel his breath speed up. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm down, even a little. After an hour, there was a knock on the door to his room, so he got up from the floor, and walked over, opening it. One of the staff members were there, and told him that they had rushed to find the doctor, to which he just nodded at, letting the older man walk in. As the doctor got in, he quickly saw Luna on the futon and asked Gladion a few questions, which he couldn’t really reply to, as he didn’t know her that well. The man nodded and started to examine her, while Gladion get a close eye on what he did.

«At least you know her name, that helps a lot to.» the doctor said as he finished examining her. «She’ll be fine. Just some rest would do.»

«Good to know.» Gladion muttered.

The doctor then gave him a quick check up, giving him a few stitches from a cut he had gotten from Chad on his forehead. Luckily his bangs would hide the sight of it. Once the doctor finished and left, Gladion were sitting against the wall, opposite of Luna as he just kept looking at her. Thinking back a little, he remembered the white aura-like apparition that appeared behind her before the spell pulled them both to the ground and when she collapsed.

«That definitely looked like a crane...» he muttered silently, looking at her. He inhaled deeply, letting it out with a soft sigh, which made him yawn a little, running his hand through his bangs, pushing them a little to the side before looking out of the window.

«A crane...» he muttered, looking over at Luna again, who looked like she were sleeping peacefully.


	13. Roommate.

A week had passed since the fight, and Luna were still unconscious. While waiting for her to wake up again, Gladion had been burying himself in books and practice whenever he felt like it, which were quite rare, as he didn’t want to be to far away if she woke up. The day after the fight, he had talked to Misty, and she had gotten some information about Chad. Gladion didn’t really want anything to do with him, but did listen anyway. Misty started by telling that, from what she had heard, that the guy had been stalking her for a while, years even, and wouldn’t stop muttering that she would be his at some point in the future. 

«Seems like she didn’t catch on it. Considering what you said, seeing her walk towards Route 24, and that he happened to be there, trapping her.» she started, and crossed her arms. «Which made me think...How did you notice it?»

«Notice what?» Gladion asked, looking around the place.

«That there was a fire. It was pretty far in the forest, as it takes a while to get to that clearing. And trust me, i have been there several times.» she said, nodding.

Gladion just rolled his eyes. «You know that fire does give off smoke, yeah?»

She scoffed. «Of course. Who don’t know that in this day and age?»

«You, apparently.» he just replied.

Misty just looked at him, and then just blushed from embarrassment, and facepalmed. She sighed softly. «Stupid questions will always get a stupid reply...» she muttered. «Sorry about that….Anyway.»

She continued to tell him that his family, in his clan were quite obsessed-like people, as in, once their mind is set on something, they won’t stop until what they want is finally theirs, even by force. Continuing to tell him about Chad, Gladion didn’t really listen to it anymore, but caught a few details here and there as she kept going on. Misty got interrupted after a while by some of her people. She huffed and looked a little annoyed, but she knew that she had work to do, and that people couldn’t wait sometimes.

«I have to leave. Students don’t like to wait for their teacher apparently.» she said, giving off a soft chuckle.

«Don’t let me hold you. I need to get a few things before i go back to the Inn as well.» he replied, looking at the person behind her that were waiting.

«Alright. I gave you the info, though, i do want to know whenever she wakes up. I just have a few questions to her myself.» she said and turned her back at him. «See you later, Alolaboy.» she said, gave him a small wave and walked off with the person who were waiting for her to finish talking.

Gladion just rolled his eyes and scoffed, going in the opposite direction to find a store to get some thread to fix up one of his shirts with, getting it ripped up a few places while practicing some more fire spells, trying to recall how he did the lighting spell that day. Finding a store, he quickly asked the clerk for a bundle of thread, which he found quickly to him. He paid and left to get a few food items before heading back to the Inn, just burying himself in a book, while keeping an eye on Luna. He were quite worried if she would ever wake up again, as a whole week had passed and it didn’t seem like she would wake up anytime soon either. Getting a few food items, he walked back to the Inn and to his room. Opening the door, he stepped inside and closed it before he walked in, looking over at Luna, who were now sitting up on the futon. Gladion almost dropped the bag with food to the floor in surprise. He opened his mouth and were about to say something, but stopped as she turned around, looking up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she had quite the dark rings under her eyes, and generally looking quite tired.

Gladion walked in and put the bag on the table, moving over to her and sitting down on the floor beside you. «How are you feeling?»

She just turned her head, looking front of her and sighed. «Dead.» she flatly replied.

Gladion nodded. «Same.» he just flatly replied back, looking in the direction she were looking in.

Luna turned her head towards the wall, and gave a small snort, holding in the laughter. He heard it and saw that she were silently giggling, which just made him smile softly. He scooted back a little, reaching for the bag on the table and dug up something for her to eat.

«How long have i been out?» she asked as he dug up a rice ball for her to eat.

He presented it to her, which she took off his hands, just looking a little at it. «You have been out for a week.» he replied, getting up on his feet again.

Luna watched him dig through his bag, finding a shirt that were full of holes, as well as a small purse where he had a few needles in, placing it on the table. Luna just sat there, watching him find the new thread and starting to stitch up some of the holes in the shirt. She asked what he had been doing while she were out, which he said that he had been practicing his fire spells, mocking himself by poking some of his fingers out of the holes in the shirt. She giggled softly.

«I’m sorry by the way...» he muttered as she started to patch up a hole.

«Eh…?» She looked at him and slightly tilted her head.

«...Nothing like this would have happened if i wasn’t so utterly stupid those months back...» he replied, keeping his attention to the shirt, not even daring to look up at her.

«It’s fine...Really...» she softly replied, looking down into her hands, at the rice ball he had given her. «And i have known Chad for years...I just didn’t think that he would…go to the extreme...» she muttered, feeling quite embarrassed by going into an obvious trap like that.

Gladion hesitated, but looked up at her, seeing her saddened expression. He didn’t say anything, but gave a soft hum in response. He quickly looked down at the shirt when she turned around, scooting over to the table, opposite of him. She placed the rice ball on the table, running her hand through her bangs a little, moving them away slightly before taking the rice ball again, opening the packaging. Gladion looked down at his shirt again, continuing to fix whatever of holes there was, at least most of them, while Luna slowly started to munch on the rice ball. After a few minutes of silence, Gladion mentioned that Misty wanted to ask her a few questions, which Luna nodded at. She didn’t want to do anything at the moment, much less, talk to anyone else. Gladion could see that, as well as she had just woken up again, so he didn’t want to push the topic.

As she kept slowly munching on the food, and Gladion fixing his shirt, Luna decided that she would take a shower and soak herself later, as she felt pretty gross, knowing that she had been out for a whole week. She finished it, and got up on her feet, feeling very unsteady and shaky as she made her way, slowly, over to the bathroom.

«Don’t lock the door.» Gladion muttered.

«Say that again?» she hissed, looking over at him, not believing that he said that to her.

«Don’t lock the door.» he repeated, and turned, looking at her. «I don’t have the funds to repair the door if you decide to start drowning in there.» he added, slightly growling it at her.

She didn’t know how to reply to that and just nodded and walked in. She turned, and started to close the door. «If you even dare to take a peak, i won’t hesitate to hurt you...quite badly.» she growled and closed it shut.

«Point taken...» he muttered, fighting the blush that were slowly creeping up on his cheeks.

He could hear the water turn on, filling the tub up. He looked over his shoulder, looking at the door and in an instant became a blushing mess, quickly looking down at the shirt again. The thought of her being in his room, stripping off her clothes were to much for his mind to comprehend as he fought a growing sensation. Luna started to hum softly as she stripped down from the outfit, neatly folding it and storing it away in a basket that were found in under the sink. Once it was neatly folded, she stored it under the sink for later when she were done, and got to work on washing herself. She kept on humming softly on some random melody, and Gladion could hear it, which made him even more uneasy.

She soaped up and scrubbed herself, feeling a slight relief, feeling like she were washing away filth that had built up from years, as well as waking up more by it. She finished scrubbing herself and moved onto wash her hair, which she knew would take a little while. She kept on humming and finished her hair, putting it up on a messy bun on her head, wrapping a towel around before stepping into the tub, turning the water off. She let out a content sigh as she sunk into the water. While she were in the tub, Gladion knocked on the door, which made her flinch and cover herself with her hands.

«What?» she exclaimed slightly in panic.

«I’ll be out to get another futon and duvet, as i’m not going to sleep any longer on the floor.» he said, his voice muffled by the door.

«Oh...Okay...» she muttered. He just gave a soft hum in response and left, which made her think a little.

_ Have he been sleeping on the floor while i have used his...futon? _

Gladion walked to the entrance of the Inn, trying to find someone of the staff that were working there. Not finding anyone, he stood there, waiting for someone to show up, which one eventually did. He asked for another futon, pillow and duvet. The staff nodded and gestured him to follow, so they could get an extra set for him. Luna got comfortable in the tub again, and started to hum again. As she got more comfortable, she slowly started to sing, silently, on a random song. As she kept on going with a random song, she didn’t notice that Gladion came back. He didn’t try to be silent, but when he heard her, he froze on the spot, listening at her.

Silently getting the futon in, and placing it on the floor, moving the table and the chairs to the side, he kept listening to her. She were either using some sound magic to enhance her voice, or that she were just naturally good. He couldn’t really tell, knowing that she could use sound magic, other than that, he found it quite pretty and did his best to be silent while getting the extra futon ready, as he had no plans on sleeping up against the wall anymore. Now that she were awake, he could feel himself relax a little, as he had been stressing a lot, wondering if she were okay or not, or is she would ever wake up again. Getting done putting the futon down, as well as throwing the pillow and the duvet on it, he sat down in the chair, picking up the shirt from the table and folding it, putting it into his bag again, getting it out of the way, alongside the thread and the needles he had to fix it with. Putting his bag away, he heard her stop singing and step out of the tub.

She got a towel and started to dry herself up, as well as letting her hair down. Drying herself up, she wrapped the towel around herself as she found the basket with her clothes in it. She didn’t want to get fully dressed again, so she got into the small piece that she wore under it at all times. A small, short kimono like garment. It was a bit of a struggle to get it on, because of the lacing on one of the sides, but she eventually got it on. Keeping the rest of the outfit of hers in the basket, she fixed it and opened the door, walking out of the bathroom, and past Gladion. She noticed the extra futon, but as she looked around, seeing Gladion just staring at her with wide eyes, and his cheeks were quite red.

«It’s not underwear!» she hissed. She then sat down on her knees on the futon she used, and put the basket with her outfit in it to the side, having a slight pout on her face, as well as a faint pink color on her cheeks.

Gladion got more red and quickly turned his head away. «For fucks sake! Warn me the next time!» he hissed in his flustered state.

She scoffed. «Warn you about what?» she hissed.

He grumbled a little. «Whatever...» he muttered. She just rolled her eyes and huffed lightly, shaking her head.

_ Ugh...Men. _


	14. Different in your Case

The evening slowly crept on, and Gladion were still quite red from after Luna came out of the bath in that type of ‘undergarment’. She just didn’t give him any attention while brushing her fingers through her hair. As she fixed her hair, Gladion were occasionally glancing over at her, which made his blush even more noticable. Gladion got a food item out of the bag from earlier and unwrapped it, starting to eat. It didn’t taste very well, mostly because he really didn’t feel hungry, but knew he needed something, or else he would wake up in the middle of the night and start snacking on something else he bought. 

He took another glance over at her, seeing that she were putting her hair up in a ponytail. 

After being in the bath for a while, he would have thought that her eyes would have gotten less red, but they were still as red from when she woke up. At least she didn’t have the dark rings under her eyes. It was quite the awkward silence, for Gladion at least, as he didn’t manage to fight the blush off his cheeks, and kept glancing over at her.

«Right...» he muttered, in an attempt to break the awkward silence. «Misty wanted to ask a few questions whenever you woke up.» he said, looking over at the bathroom door.

«Oh? Questions about what?» she replied, fixing the ponytail she put her hair up on.

«About what happened that day...probably. I don’t really know.» he replied flatly.

Luna looked down at the flooring, feeling rather uncomfortable about the subject. «Oh...» she muttered.

Gladion looked over at her, seeing her uncomfortable expression. «Sorry i brought it up...»

She shaked her head. «It’s fine...» she muttered, taking the duvet and covered herself in it. She looked over at him, as he were looking down at his hands, looking rather scary. «It’s not your fault that i decided to be an idiot that day...»

«Can’t help to feel….guilty...at least.» he said, making a fist and looked over at her. He were about to say something, but Luna interrupted him.

«I have known him for years...I should have seen the signs, though, i didn’t...» she muttered and let out a sigh. «I should have predicted something like this would happen...» He just hummed softly. «I’m sorry that i worried you.»

Gladion nodded, and changed the subject into something more uplifting, or at least what he found sounding uplifting. As he kept telling what Cerulean had been doing while she were out, she had scooted closer to the table, placing her elbows on it, and resting her head in her hands, listening to him. While talking, there were some ruckus going on in the hallway, and it became louder for every loud stomp that were heard, getting closer to them. Gladion got a bad feeling about it, and moved a little, getting ready to jump up if needed. In a second, it got silent, a bit to silent for their liking.

«What’s going on…?» she muttered.

«I don’t know...» Gladion muttered back, shaking his head lightly.

Sitting there in silence, listening and trying to find anything. They couldn’t hear anything, but kept themselves silent and exchanged looks a few times. Luna had slowly started to panic, which Gladion could see on her. She were starting to shiver violently, as well as her eyes were as big as saucers, looking around the room, being very aware of anything. Gladion got up on his feet, and as he did, there was a knock on the door, which he found quite unusual, at least after the intense silence that were.

«Sir? Just checking if everything is okay. Is everything okay?» there was a voice on the other side of the door.

Gladion sighed softly, and let his guard down as he walked over to the door, and opened it. Luna told him not to open it, being quite vary of the situation. Before he could fully see who were behind the door, the person flew at him, and tackled him to the ground. Luna yelped and ducked out of panic, but sat up quickly again, seeing who it was that had tackled Gladion to the ground.

«This time, i’ll just have to kill you first before i get to her...»

Gladion scoffed. «Would like to see you try.» he muttered.

Luna were horrified at the sight, and what he said. «Chad! Get off!» she shouted over at him.

Chad just gave her a glare, which made her flinch. Gladion noticed and didn’t like it. Chad chuckled mischievously, looking down at Gladion who he had pinned down to the floor. «It’s really sweet seeing that you like her.» he muttered, loud enough for only Gladion to hear it.

«Tch...It’s a difference between ‘liking’ someone and being ‘nice’...Something you apparently can’t comprehend.» Gladion snarled.

Chad hummed and nodded. «True...» he started and leaned down to his ear. «But it’s definitely different in your case...» he added.

Gladion’s expression turned from a scowl to being horrified. While spacing out, Chad slightly sat up and started to mutter a spell. He aimed at him, but as he were about to fire the spell off, Luna had gotten up on her feet. She were still quite shaky, but couldn’t just sit and watch any longer. In a hurry, she dug up a small katana from her bag. She launched at him, and managed to kick him off Gladion. At the same time, he fired the spell at him, but as she kicked him off, the fire spell didn’t hit him in his face, where he had been aiming, but ended going across his chest. It all happened so quickly that Gladion snapped back from spacing out as he felt the intense pain came over him.

Chad were laying down, leaning against the wall, while Luna were hovering over him, pointing the blade at his neck. Chad were growling, and looked up, seeing Luna standing there. Her hair were covering her eyes, so he couldn’t see her expression. He gave a soft chuckle, while Gladion slightly sat up, looking over at them.

«Why so serious, Luna?...You going to kill me?» he said, chuckling.

«I just might...» she said, rather calmly, pressing the blade more onto his skin.

The reply she gave him gave Gladion the chills. There was no hesitation, and she said so calmly. Chad just swallowed thickly, looking up at her, seeing her glare. Her bloodshot eyes made her glare even more creepy, and Chad just nodded when she hissed that she didn’t want to see him again, and that she wouldn’t hesitate the next time, if that ever came to it. Removing the blade from his neck, some of the staff, that were standing outside of the room, were looking inside. They didn’t dare to do anything and had just been standing there, watching the scene unfold.

As she removed the blade from his neck, Chad sat up, and slowly got up on his feet, keeping his eyes at her as he backed out. The staff just watched as she closed the door in front of them. They stood there for a while before walking off with Chad, as well as getting someone to get him and remove him from the property. As they walked down, Chad in the middle, they were about to turn the corner, heading towards the entrance. Luna were standing silently in front of the door, listening carefully at the footsteps that became distant.

«I’ll get you one day!!» he shouted down the hallway.

At that second, Luna opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, and threw the sword at him. The staff moved out of the way in a hurry as the weapon passed them just as quickly, ending up in the wall. Chad moved a little, only barely miss getting hit by it. In pure horror, he looked at the weapon that were now standing in the wall for a few seconds before looking over at her.

«Tch...I missed.» she muttered, looking quite scary and emotionless.

Gladion had moved towards the wall, leaning against it, and didn’t feel the pain as much because of the extreme adrenaline that were running through him. He were quite horrified himself on how she acted, and started to question his own sanity for helping her. She didn’t bother to get the weapon of hers back, so she just got back into the room and closed the door. The staff didn’t touch her weapon and got Chad out of there, throwing him out and telling him that he wasn’t welcome there anymore. He stood outside the Inn a little, until Misty came around and just frowned at the sight of him. She didn’t want to scare him away, so she walked up to him and invited him with her, getting him away from the place.

As Luna closed the door, she inhaled deeply, her breath shaking violently as she let it out. Gladion let out a light groan of pain, adjusting his position, which made her look over at him and hurry over. She sat down on her knees in front of him and just looked at the massive burn across his torso.

«I...I can’t heal that...» she muttered. «I can at least make it less painful...»

«Just...Don’t kill me...» he replied to her, swallowing thickly.

She held up her hands in a type of a sign position over the massive burn he had gotten, and as she started to mutter a few words in Kantonese, a soft green glow appeared. She kept it quite consistent as she managed to ease the pain immensely, which were quite the surprise to him. She removed her hands and sat back, looking down at the floor. What she started to mutter took him even more off guard, seeing tears dropping from her cheeks as she clenched the edge of the garment she were wearing.

_ «I almost killed someone...» _

He just gawked at her. It was all an act, and a pretty good one as well, and he didn’t know how to react to it. Feeling no pain anymore, he hesitated before pulling her close, wrapping his arms around her. Hearing her sob silently was something he didn’t like, not one bit. It made his heart sink, as well as his mind went back to what Chad said before it all went down.

_ “It’s definitely different in your case…” _

«We’re leaving tomorrow...Whether you like it or not.» he said softly.

She just hummed and gave a light nod. As she gave her reply, he just tightened the grip around her. After a while, when she had calmed down and he eventually got out of the shirt, letting her put some bandage around him, keeping it clean and ‘out of the way’, as she put it. She kept apologizing to him, as it was her fault for him getting it, and that it would leave a scar in the future. After she finished bandaging him up, she left the room to get her weapon at the end of the hallway, as it was still stuck in the wall. She struggled to get it out, but she eventually did and walked back.

Gladion had found a water bottle he bought earlier that day, and sipped on that. It was already evening, and they both could feel themselves being quite tired, but the adrenaline from earlier kept them awake. Luna were sipping on some tea, as that was what made her relax faster. The owner of the Inn had paid them a visit, asking if everything were alright, to which they both had said it was, other than them being quite riled up and found it hard to calm down. He did ask her what type of a sword that was, pointing to the weapon she had.

«I never really use it, but it’s called Wakizashi...Kinda like a...small Katana.» she said, taking a sip of the tea.

«A small katana?» he asked, not really sure what she was talking about. «Considering that, i guess you have a Katana as well, but….» he started, looking around her.

«But…?» she parroted.

«I can’t see a Katana.» he just flatly told her.

«It’s in my home village, at my grandparents place. It’s too much to drag along, as well as people would be quite skittish seeing you with a weapon that visible.» she said, and reached for the weapon, placing it behind her, out of sight.

«And you know how to use those?»

She nodded. «It’s common practice that everyone knows how to use a Katana at home. We just don’t...use it as much as people think...» she added.

He didn’t know much about swords in general, and didn’t really care, as well as it was a Kantonian and Jothonese thing, as far as he knew. She finished the tea and crawled under the duvet, finding herself getting more sleepy and decided to just try and get some sleep. Gladion just followed her lead, clicked the lights off and got under the duvet on the extra futon himself. The burn he had gotten earlier were stinging a little, but didn’t tell her, as he didn’t want to bother her with it. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she quickly drifted off to sleep. Gladion carefully laid down onto the futon, looking up at the ceiling a little before turning his head, looking over at Luna. While looking at her, he could feel butterflies in his stomach, which were something he had never experienced before, and it was quite the weird feeling.

_ Different in my case... _


	15. On the Road

They left as soon as they woke up the next day. Luna eased the pain from the burn wound he had gotten, and they both got ready, heading towards Pewter City. Getting over there would take a while, knowing that there were a mountain they had to get over, but as Luna had most recently woken up, and after the events from yesterday, Gladion didn’t want to rush it and decided to just let them take their time, as long as they got away from the place, and possibly Chad. They had already gotten quite far on Route 4, but had to start getting over to Mt. Moon, as they had to either get over it, which was the shortest way, or walk around it to get to Route 3. Not thinking twice about it, and not really up for a climb, they both agreed on taking the long way around.

It being the late months of the year, the air were quite chilly, though, it looked like Luna didn’t mind the cold air while Gladion had some trouble with it, being pretty used to the warm weather in Alola, as well as the only jacket he had dragged with him went up in flames, and he didn’t drag along enough funds to get a new one. Improvising, he just took on an extra shirt, which did help a little. They had been walking since the morning, and it had already started to get dark, which were their sign that they had to camp out for a while, unless there was some abandoned buildings around they could take shelter in. Walking a little further, they didn’t find anything similar to a building, so they had to find a place with as much shelter as possible from the chilly wind at night.

Luna knew the area better than him, so he just followed after her, until they found a suitable place to camp for the night. An abandoned cave, which she had used a few times before. She walked in first and Gladion followed.

«This will have to do for the night.» she muttered.

«It’s better than nothing.» he replied, looking around.

There was an old fireplace, which she sat down beside at, close to the wall. Gladion sat down opposite of her and but his bag down on the side. As quickly the settled down after walking around outside, getting a little firewood to light up the place, it got quite dark outside. Luna sat there in silence, looking in the flames, her arms around her legs and her chin resting on top of her knees. Glancing over at her, he could see that she were used to be alone, a lot, like himself when he were in Alola, though, for the past few months, the loneliness had slowly started to subdue within him, feeling more at ease. Even though, it was, more or less, completely gone whenever she were around, which just made him even more suspicious and conscious of his own feelings.

Shifting his gaze between her and the flames, he noticed that she got the shivers. «You’re freezing.» he flatly said towards her.

«I’ll be fine...It’s just been a while since i have been sleeping outside like this.» she replied, tilting her head a little.

He just narrowed his eyes a little at her. «That sounds quite concerning...»

«How so? I have been wandering around since i were 11 anyway...It’s nothing new, though, it’s hard to readjust to the lifestyle.» She said and looked over at him. He had quite the worried look on his face. «Stop looking like that...It’s what’s normal within my clan.»

«And what’s normal about sending out an 11 year old to wander a region? Rather dangerous...» he muttered and looked around at the cave walls.

«Traditions that have been kept since the latest war.» she said and gave a soft sigh. «Traditions that are hard to let go off apparently.»

«What an odd tradition your clan have...» he said and looked down at the flames of the fire.

«I’m used to them, so they don’t really bother me….But what about your traditions? Did they stay the same after the war thousands of years ago?» she asked, looking over at him.

«Can’t really tell, but i guess they are as odd as a few i have heard.» he muttered, shrugging.

«How odd?» she asked.

«Well...» he started, sighing and crossing his arms. «I do know that the ‘oh so famous’ Crane clan have this tradition that the girls leave at a young age, going out on a journey to find themselves or something.» he said.

Luna just shaked her head. «And what does that have to do with anything of your traditions?» she lightly growled.

«Just let me finish...» he hissed. He cleared his throat. «Lunala were of the Crane family, and eventually married Solgaleo, who came from Alola. Since she came into the mix those years ago, the Alolan and the Crane traditions have been mixed, so to speak.»

Luna tilted her head a little more, resting his cheek on her knees, looking and listening at him with interest. «Oh? How did they change?»

«Instead of letting the girls go at a young age, it came to that when a boy turned 15, he were out of the house, needing to start to tend for himself and so forth.» He finished, giving off a soft sigh. «So...» he started again.

«So i literally have more life experience than you then.» she finished the sentence for him.

He scoffed. «That really depends on how old you are.» he lightly hissed.

«I’m 19. If that helps.» she flatly replied.

Gladion started to dig through his bag, but stopped when she told him her age. He just looked at her, not sure what to say as it was clearly true that she did have more life experience than him, despite him being a year older than her. «Seriously?»

«Why should i lie about my age?» she replied and gave a half hearted chuckle.

«You tell me.» he quickly and flatly replied to her. She chuckled softly and nodded.

Gladion dug out a blanket he had stolen from the Inn and got up on his feet, walking over to Luna and handed it to her. She just looked at the piece of cloth until he dumped it onto her head, lightly hissing for her to take it, as she kept shivering. She sighed and muttered thanks, but didn’t cover herself with it, instead, she put it on the side, which made him even more irritated as he sat down to her side. He leaned up against the wall beside her, and folded his arms, trying to keep himself warm, to which she noticed and took the blanket and threw it onto his face.

«Stop being so proud.» she said flatly.

«What…?» he hissed as he got the blanket thrown at his face. She gave a half hearted chuckle, but didn’t look over at him, trying to keep herself as still as possible.

Gladion leaned against the wall, giving a soft sigh as he put the blanket down at the ground again. He folded his arms and got a little more comfortable, looking into the flames. As it were quite dark, he slowly drifted off to sleep, while Luna were still awake. She took a quick glance over at him and got up on her feet, taking the blanket and unfolded it, placing it over him. As she did, she walked out of the cave, deciding to take a look since it had been a while since she had been around these parts. Getting out, she stood at the entrance a little, just looking around a little before she started to walk in a direction, where she knew she would end up at a steep, looking over Pewter City in the distance. As she walked off, Gladion woke up again, as he just snoozed off for a few seconds. Enough for her to put the blanket over him and leave. With a sigh, he got up.

«Knowing the place or not...I don’t feel comfortable letting you walk around after being out for an entire week...» he muttered silently to himself.

The burn wound he got stung a little as he got up on his feet, taking a few deep inhales before adjusting his shirt a little, walking out of the cave. Looking around, he saw her walking in the distance. He didn’t want to know that he were following her, so he kept his distance, but made sure that she were in his sight. Walking deeper into the forest, he found it hard to follow her, as she knew her way around. Eventually she stopped at an overview, and she just kept standing there. Gladion walked closer, leaning against a tree as to just observe, thinking that she just were going to practice some of her spells. Instead she sighed loudly and got incredibly flustered, muttering in Kantonese and banging her fists onto her head. Gladion just watched her in both surprise and shock, not knowing what she was doing.

«Baka! Bakabakabakabakabakabaka!» she kept going on, rather loudly as she were banging her fists onto her head. «Naze!? Nande watashi!?» she growled to herself.

«Watashi wa sū-kagetsu-kan kare o sakete kimashita!!» she muttered, followed by a upset sounding sigh. «Naze?...Dõ yatte watashi wa anata o suki ni natta no...?»

Gladion didn’t understand anything of what she were saying, but she were definitely flustered and looking uncomfortable. She kept going on in her flustered state for a while, and Gladion started to feel bad for actually spying on her, but he were just worried that she’ll do something stupid and fall into some kind of a coma again. She squatted down, her hands on her head in both frustration and slight horror as she watched Pewter City in the distance, as the street lights were lighting it up. She murmured something inaudible for him to hear, which just made him curious. Debating with himself if he should interrupt her ‘mental breakdown’ or just leave her be, letting her just get done while he walked back to the cave.

He decided to walk up to her. «What are you doing?» he asked, approaching her.

She flinched and looked behind her. «How long have you been standing there!?» she exclaimed.

«Just got here, but i did hear you sound quite...upset?» he said, lying as he had seen the whole scene.

«Oh...Okay...» she muttered, still sitting down.

He walked up and stood beside her, looking down at the city lights, illuminating in the distance. «Is that...Pewter City?»

She nodded and gave a soft hum in response. «It is...It will take a few days to get there though.»

«That’s to be expected.» he replied softly, looking down at her.

«Why did you find me…?» she muttered at him.

«Considering that you have been in some kind of a coma for a week, only for that idiot to screw up more the day you woke up, it’s natural that i’m just worried.» he flatly replied.

She looked up at him with big eyes. «You were worried?»

A faint blush appeared on his cheeks. «Is that weird that i was?» he lightly hissed, looking out at the view in front of them.

She averted her eyes to the view in front of them and smiled softly. «No...It’s not.» she said softly.

After a short while, he reached his hand out to her. «Let’s get back.» he muttered.

She nodded and hummed softly in response, taking his hand and got up on her feet. She fixed her outfit a little before they started to walk off from the overview. Luna were still quite flustered, but managed to hide it quite well, and luckily, if he heard what she said, he didn’t understand a word of it. Walking through the forest, they got to the cave again, and he quickly sat down, leaning against the wall. Luna took the blanket and sat down right beside him, leaning against the wall as well, but at the same time, against him, which made him super conscious about her being there, and that close. His heart started to race like crazy, and he were sure she could hear it. He quickly used a fire spell to fire up the fire again, getting some light around them. She wrapped the blanket around her, and gestured for him to get under it. The glare she gave him made his hair on his back stand up, so he got under it, but hesitated greatly. As quickly he got under it, she put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

She quickly got comfortable and fell asleep, to which he were feeling super nervous and didn’t move a muscle. He let a soft sigh escape from him as he slowly folded his arms, leaning his head back and trying to get as comfortable as possible again before he closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep, while listening to the fire making a few cracking sounds, making it quite soothing to listen to.


	16. Don't Move

It’s been a few days, and they were getting closer to Pewter City. It had started to snow the other day, and had covered most of the route they were taking around Mt. Moon in the white, fluffy substance. Luna were feeling a little better, as well as her eyes weren’t as red anymore, getting back to their natural white. Walking around, they were occasionally passing by other people that were on their way towards Cerulean City. They were usually just talking about gossip that they have heard before leaving, and were quite the topic.

The most common gossip they heard were about the sudden attack at one of the Inns, which meant it was about Luna and Gladion, when Chad attacked all of a sudden. Whenever they got asked about it, they just told them they didn’t know, and it was their first time hearing about it. The people would then start talk shit, mostly about the people that were attacked, a they must have done something to deserve it. The most Gladion heard about it, the more irritated he got, fully knowing that Chad had then gone around saying stuff that weren’t true, both about him and Luna. Luna just told him that she didn’t care, as that the staff at the Inn they had stayed at would just tell them their version, which was on their side.

«I know they are on our side, but it still pisses me off that he walks around, taking shit like that.» he hissed.

Luna nodded. «I get your frustration, but there isn’t anything we can do about that now.» she replied softly. She stopped and looked around a little. «We better be a little more careful while walking around here...» she muttered.

Gladion stopped beside her. «Why do you say that?»

«Cracks on the ground, that is caused by the mountain.» she said, looking around a little more. «You don’t want to fall down in one of those.»

«And why is that? If it’s a crack, it should be to big.» he flatly replied to her.

«Because they are, literally, big enough to swallow you whole and it’s hard to get people up from them again, since the opening is so narrow, and they tend to be quite deep.»

«Soo...A quick way to hell?» he muttered.

She nodded. «If you put it like that, then yes….Just...watch were you are going.»

«I’ll do my best...Thanks for warning me.» he replied, looking around and started to be very wary of where he were putting his feet.

They started to walk again, Gladion following Luna quite closely. Luna were a lot more conscious about Gladion being around, as well as being careful with what she said. Gladion had noticed the small change, but didn’t think to much about it, thinking it was just her way to cope with getting back to normal. As they kept walking, they could hear children's laughter in the distance. Exchanging looks, they followed after the sounds that were made, and eventually found a small place with a few houses scattered around. They walked into the small place, looking around and saw children playing in the snow, laughing and having a good time.

«Watch out!!»

They both looked in the direction where someone were yelling at them for. Luna stepped out just in time when a kid on a board approached fast from the nearby hill, while Gladion were a little too late and got hit, crashing with the kid. The kid going a little further, while Gladion ended up on his rear, looking rather confused for a second before he snapped out of it by Luna, who were giggling. Gladion got up on his feet again, ‘dusting’ off his pants from the snow, growling lightly. The kid came over in a hurry.

«I’m really sorry! You both came out of nowhere...» he muttered.

Luna kept giggling softly as Gladion sent her a glare. «It’s fine.» he muttered, keeping his glare at her.

«Oh! You’re that guy that knows card tricks!!» the kid exclaimed all of a sudden. Making both Luna and Gladion look at him. Luna were confused, while Gladion recognized him.

«Oh...Hello again.» he said.

As the kid started to chatter like crazy, a male came running over. «Oh my goodness! Are you okay!? I saw the whole thing!» he said, panting heavily as he stopped in front of them.

«Ojīchan! He the one i have told you about!» the kid exclaimed and pointed at Gladion, grinning widely.

«Oh? Is it?» he asked, looking up at him.

He extended his hand to him, offering a handshake. Gladion accepted and they shook hands, Luna did as well. The kid were excited and kept telling his grandfather about the card tricks and how good Gladion were at them, jumping on his spot. Gladion gained a faint blush on his cheeks, being all modest, which Luna noticed and just rolled her eyes. Chatting a little more, and getting to know that the two were on their way to Pewter City, which were a few more day a head because of the heavy snowfall that had happened the last night.

«Well, since my grandson likes you so much, why don’t you two stay until the snow have settled a little on the route over to Pewter City? Easier to travel that way when, as well that people might have already been walking a little then...making a small path for you to use.» He said, wiggling his eyebrows a little.

Gladion and Luna exchanged looks and nodded, accepting the offer. It would be a good change to get a normal bed to sleep in, as well as getting warmed up and regain some energy for the rest of the trip. He gestured for them to follow him, while telling the kid to keep playing with it’s friends. The kid nodded, said goodbye and left to play with it’s friends, that were waiting for him. His grandfather walked off, Luna and Gladion following after, thinking it will be nice to relax a little. Walking over to a house, the older man opened the door and walked in, calling for his wife, letting her know that they had guests for a few days at most. She came out of a room and greeted them both, giving them both a warm smile, welcoming them sweetly. They both politely bowed and greeted her as they took their shoes off, and walked in. She talked to her husband a little, asking who they were, which he told her that their grandson knew the young man, and that Luna were his girlfriend. They were all speaking in Kantonese, so when Luna heard the word ‘girlfriend’ she blushed like mad, while Gladion just looked at her, being confused as of why she became so red.

The woman nodded and hummed softly. «Oh, is that so.» she said and gave a soft chuckle. She then looked over them both, who were looking around at the place. «I’ll be done soon, so...» she said and looked over at her husband again. «You can show them were to say, yes?» she added, looking at him.

He laughed softly and nodded. «Of course.» he said and gestured for them to follow him. «I’ll show you your room. Tag along~.»

They tagged along, and the older man explained that they would be using the spare room, which were usually used for storage, so he excused for the mess as they found the room, and he opened the door. The room were stacked with boxes and other stuff, but there was a bed in the room. A single twin sized bed. The two just looked at it and became blushing messes as the older man explained that they had to share it, and added that it probably wouldn’t be a problem, indicating that they were a couple.

The evening came and everyone were inside. Gladion were busy showing the kid a card trick, as he wanted to learn it and show his friends sometime. The mother of the kid and her parents-in-law were chatting and laughing softly. Luna felt out of place, sitting in the corner of the couch, in silence and were just observing and listening to everyone else, ocassionally laughing and replying if there was a question directed at her. Other than those small occasional moments, she felt really out of place. As the late hours passed, everyone eventually found their way to their rooms, getting ready for bed. Luna got ready first and got under the duvet before Gladion got into the room, getting himself ready, sitting on the edge of the bed a little.

«Something wrong?» he asked her, looking over his shoulder at her.

«No. Why asking?» she muttered softly, not bothering to turn around towards him.

«You were quite silent the whole evening...Are you sure nothing is wrong?» he added.

She let out a soft sigh. «I’m sure.»

He just hummed softly, getting in under the duvet, laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling and a little around the room. She then hissed for him not to touch her, to which he just smirked at, giving off a light chuckle. She just gave a light growl to him, to which he just chuckled more at. He slowly moved to his side, facing her.

«Why growling?» he asked.

«None of your business.» she growled.

«Oh? Anything i can do to better your mood?» he then asked, having a soft smirk on his lips.

«No.» she flatly replied.

«Not even...» he started, and were slowly moving over her. «...this?» he finished.

He wrapped his arms around her, locking her arms under his, as he started to lightly tickle her. It was something he had used to do to Lillie whenever she were upset or feeling down, and it was the easiest way to make her laugh again, so he figured it couldn’t be any different with Luna. She yelped lightly, and tried to keep her laughter in, but failed, busting out with soft giggles, trying to be as silent as possible while wriggling her body. She kept squealing lightly, laughing softly as he kept going a little more. He just chuckled softly himself as he stopped, hearing her breathe heavily after it, catching her breath again.

«Not fair!» she exclaimed silently.

«But look who’s in a better mood now...» he murmured.

She gave a soft whine. «Still not fair...» she muttered.

He were still holding around her tightly, which made her very aware of him being close to her. Feeling his arms around her, feeling his chest lightly move for every breath he took, and just generally knowing that he were close, were enough to make her heart start racing in her chest. Instead of letting her go, he tightened the grip around her, nuzzling into her neck. Gladion were also very aware of what he were doing and knew it was wrong, but he didn’t want to let go either, feeling quite content in that position as he nuzzled into her neck. She were feeling quite soft, her skin against his lips were feeling like silk, and he couldn’t help but to want more, just keeping her close like this were making his heart swell up.

«Gladion...» she muttered softly.

«Don’t move...» he murmured.

She didn’t, and let him be as is. She muttered a soft ‘good night’ to him, to which he muttered it back. She closed her eyes, but it was hard to fell asleep, being utterly conscious about him laying so close and holding around her tightly. It wasn’t a bad feeling, it made her feel quite safe for a change. Letting the tiredness take over her, she eventually fell asleep. Gladion noticed, as her body didn’t feel so tense anymore. Tightening the grip a little more around her, he pressed his lips against her shoulder, giving her a soft peck before getting a little more comfortable before he closed his eyes as well, trying to drift off to sleep, but were too riled up to even manage to think straight.

« Wish i could tell what i have on my mind right now... » he murmured silently, doing his best not to think too much as he kept his eye closed. He made sure that she actually were fully asleep before he said it. It took a while until the tiredness came over him, but he eventually drifted off to sleep.


	17. Not your Fault

Luna woke up the next morning, in the same position as she fell asleep in. With Gladion holding around her tightly, still sleeping soundly as she tried to move around, looking over her shoulder. She were slightly panicking, but were quite comfortable as is. Luna kept laying there, moving a little in an attempt to get a little more comfortable, without waking him up. As she moved, he did as well, adjusting a little in his sleep, pulling her tighter in his sleep, letting out a soft sigh as he nuzzled into her neck some more. Luna let out a soft sigh, looking around the room, and out the window, seeing that snow were falling from the sky. Laying there in silence, with the sound of his soft breathing being the only sound in the room.

Watching snowflakes slowly fall down outside, she could hear people around in the house wake up and get downstairs, getting ready for the day. The sleepiness came over her again, and she slowly closed her eyes, getting over the fact that she were still tired and didn’t really want to get up from bed either. As she were about to drift off to sleep again, a door got slammed and made the whole house shake. Gladion flinched awake, and as he did, tighten the grip around her, giving off quite the annoyed sigh. Luna flinched awake again as well, and felt him tighten the grip around her.

«Good morning.» she said softly.

He hummed softly. «Good morning...» he replied in a husky voice.

«Umm...Can you...like...let me go?» she muttered timidly.

«You don’t like laying like this?» he replied.

«It’s not that...» she said, slowly getting flustered.

«I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then.» he added, giving a soft sigh.

«Gladion...» she lightly whined, blushing.

He hummed softly again, and the door to the room they were using swung open, and in came the kid. «You awake!? Can you please teach me some more card tricks!» he exclaimed, grinning widely.

Gladion let go of Luna and turned around, sitting up on the bed. Luna turned around, looking over at the kid with big eyes, and still in a slight shock at the situation. The mother of the kid came hurrying in, dragging him out as she apologized and closed the door, starting to scold the kid. Gladion sighed and ran his hand through his hair, massaging his temple a little. Luna snorted lightly and started to giggle, pulling the duvet over her head, her eyes and forehead still being visible. Gladion just looked down at her, getting a faint red color on his cheeks.

«I’ll be getting up then...» he muttered.

Luna just watched him as he reached for a shirt. «Does it sting?»

He hummed softly, looking over his shoulder at her. Luna just gestured at the burn across his torso. He shaked his head. «No. It’s fine.»

She hummed softly. «If you say so.» she murmured.

He put the shirt on, and she turned around, letting him get his privacy. As much as she wanted to look, she didn’t, thinking that would be uncalled for. Getting flustered again, she pulled the duvet over her head, becoming a blushing mess. He got fully dressed and walked out, to which after he closed the door again, he pulled the duvet under her head, sitting up in the bed, looking at the door. She inhaled deeply, letting it out with a soft sigh. After procrastinating a little, she got up and got dressed for the day as well.

Fast forward to midday, they were all outside. Luna wanted to take a look around the place, as it had been a while since she had been around on the route, as well as the small villages around it. Gladion stayed behind, getting pestered by the kid and its friends, that wanted to see the card tricks he had showed it the previous evening. He was quite tired of it, and his movements were getting stale, but kept on going for a while, at least until the kids wanted to do something else. He were sitting on the porch of the house they were staying at, looking around and saw Luna in the distance, just looking and observing the place.

«Ooh, i have seen that look before.»

Gladion flinched and looked behind him, seeing the kids grandfather standing there with his arms crossed. Gladion looked around a the porch a little, not sure what he meant. «What…?» he muttered.

The older man laughed softly, standing there and looking over in the direction he were looking a few seconds ago. «The look you are giving your girl.» he said and nodded. «I used to give the same look at my wife when she were younger...» he added and looked down at him with a soft smile. «I still do.» he added, giving him a playful wink.

Gladion gave a lopsided smile and a half hearted chuckle. «I can tell you for sure that...»

«That she ain’t your girl?» he finished his sentence.

«Which she isn’t…» he lightly hissed, blushing from ear to ear.

He sat down beside him and patted him hard on his back, laughing rather loudly. «I’m sure. I’m sure.» he said, giving him a knowingly look.

Gladion just sighed and hung his head, while the older man laughed again, and kept doing so for a little while. He asked Gladion about where he came from, not wanting to make the young man even more flustered. Getting to know that he were from Alola, he got curious as of how he managed to cope with the cold, since Alola is a tropical region. 

«There is Mt. Lanakila, which have snow all year around on it’s top.» Gladion told him.

«Ah, right. I knew there was something i were missing about the region. Family? Like siblings?» he then asked.

«A younger sister. And my mother...» he said, lightly hissing the latter.

«Ooh. Not on good terms with your mother?»

«Not really.»

He hummed and nodded. «Your father then? Good terms there?»

«Don’t really know my father...» he muttered.

«Oh? How come?» he questioned him, tilting his head a little.

«My father disappeared years ago, it made my mother go crazy and trying to find him again...as if why i’m not in good terms with her.» Gladion started. Without thinking twice about it, Gladion told him how it was and how it ended.

He just nodded, firmly placing his hand on his shoulder. «Sorry to hear that, kid.»

As they were talking, Luna had walked up and stopped in front of them. «Having fun?» she asked.

The older man just swung his arm around Gladion, pulling him close, grinning widely. «Can’t you tell? We are best friends now!»

Gladion just gave Luna a look, screaming for help to get away from him, as he started to get flashbacks from whenever Hau did the same, and he didn’t like it. Luna just stood there, watching Gladion with an uncomfortable expression on his face and giggled softly.

«Is that so? I’m happy to hear that.» she said between her giggles.

The man nodded and kept grinning while Gladion were sitting there, quite uncomfortable and growling to himself. Luna then pointed at him, and told him that she should take a look at the burn wound of his, which he nodded at. Gladion got up and followed after her, heading back to the room. The older man just smiled softly, as he could see that Gladion were still quite red from the short conversation they had. The two got into the room, and without hesitating, he got his shirt off for her to do some healing to it. Luna hesitated a little, but did the routine with the healing.

«I can’t really get rid of the scarring...» she muttered.

«That’s to be expected.» he replied flatly.

«Sorry...»

«Stop apologizing...I have told you several times already that it’s fine.» he lightly hissed at her.

«But…» she started.

«But what?...It’s your fault? No, it clearly isn’t. Besides, it would probably have gotten a nasty infection by now if you hadn’t been around to do some sort of healing at it.» he said, quite sternly at her.

She hung her head a little, but nodded. «Still...» she muttered.

He grabbed her wrists gently. «Seriously. Luna...» he started, giving of a sigh. She barely looked up at him. «We are going for a walk...and i’m going knock it into your head that it isn’t your fault.» he finished, moving her hands to knock herself on her head. «Get it?» She just nodded slightly, not sure how to reply to it. He let go of her wrists and let her finish up.

She got done going over the burn, healing it so the pain would be gone for a while longer. He got on a shirt, and dragged her with him outside, walking off into the village, trying to find a place to be alone so he could tell tell her straight that it wasn’t her fault, as she kept apologizing whenever she did. The older folks were sitting in the living room, talking and chatting as usual for their day, while their grandkid were outside, playing with its friends. As the two saw them walk out in a hurry, they just exchanged looks and looked very confused at each other.

Dragging her with him, they got to the end of the village, and he continued to drag her with him. Luna started to get stressed and not sure what were going. «Gladion…? Where are we going?»

Being quite far away from the small village, he stopped and turned towards her. «Seriously, Luna...» he started and let go of her wrist, massaging his temples. «Again...It’s not your fault for me getting this.» he said, gesturing towards the scarring on his torso.

«Gladion...» she muttered.

«You did tell me that morning that i shouldn’t open the door, yet i still did it. And that makes it my fault, no?» he added, looking over to the side, giving off a light, frustrated sigh. «Please stop blaming yourself...That was my own stupidity...as well as for getting you into that situation anyway.»

«What...?» she muttered softly, tilting her head.

He started about the time when she first were out of energy, and after he kicked her out of the room at the Inn in Celadon City, that he were the one who literally started the whole ordeal, apologizing to her and telling her that if he didn’t do that at the time, nothing would have happened, getting more and more agitated a he kept talking about it, feeling incredibly guilty. Luna noticed it quickly, as he started to stutter and talk to fast about things, as well as he sounded quite irritated and frustrated while talking about it. She didn’t interrupt him, but let him continue, sensing that he had some irritation that he just needed to get out, one way or another, and she surly didn’t mind being the one to just take the ‘beating’.

He inhaled deeply, crossing his arms as he sighed. «And there you go...Got my fucking life story as well.» he hissed.

She just smile softly. «But...You’re feeling better?» she asked, tilting her head a little.

He looked at her, and then around at the surroundings a little, looking rather confused. He hesitated a little before replying to her. «I guess…?»

She nodded, keeping the soft smile on her lips. «Good. Now...» she started, he looking at her, slightly confused as he couldn’t really remember why he dragged her out. «I get it. I’m not at fault...but still...I can’t help feeling that way, Gladion...I just...can’t.»

«I get what you are saying...I just don’t like seeing you beat yourself down by it...» he muttered to her, looking to the side as some snow fell off a branch on a nearby tree.

«Like what you do?» she replied to him.

He didn’t know how to reply to that, as he fully knew at this point that he just dug a hole for himself. He just sighed and hung his head a little. She gave a soft chuckle as he looked over at her, and couldn’t fight the faint blush that came over his cheeks. She reached up for him and placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. As she did, the blush on his face intensified, luckily it was quite cold outside, so he could blame it on that.

«Mā, anata wa kawaīdesu ka?» she said softly, a soft pink color on her cheeks.

«W-what...? What does that mean?» he asked, sounding utterly confused.

«You’ll never know.» she replied softly, letting go of his cheeks. «I’ll be taking my leave, as it’s cold...» she added.

She turned around and started to walk off, while Gladion just stood there for a little, watching her. He eventually walked after her, ending back at the village, and seeing that it was quite dark already. Being surprised that it was evening, which they didn’t notice, as being in the forest, where the trees couldn’t let any light through the heavy snow on the branches, made it quite dark on it’s own. They made their way back to the house, and got inside, seeing the others in the living room. They greeted them and joined them for the rest of the evening, reheating themselves and just joining the conversation whenever it seemed fit to add anything.

As the evening went on, they all went to their rooms, getting ready to sleep. Luna and Gladion went through their routine, which was him waiting outside of the room until she had gotten under the duvet, to which he could get in later and get in the bed. Once they were both in under the duvet, he were laying on his back, giving off a few sighs, to which she got annoyed over, telling him to stop.

«Sorry for last night...and this morning...» he the muttered, placing his hand over his face, masking the intense blush.

He didn’t see it, but she smirked and turned towards him and scooted closer and placed her head on his chest, gently laying her arm across his torso, which made him lightly flinch, looking down at her with big eyes.

«Payback...» she murmured.

His heart were beating loudly in his chest, which luckily were on the side she wasn’t on, so he were, somewhat, sure that she couldn’t hear it. She didn’t move an inch, not caring if he were freaking out, because she were freaking out the night prior, so it was her way to make him ‘suffer’. Her heart were also pounding loudly in her chest, and it accelerated when his hand landed on her arm, gently running his fingers in circles on her skin. She found it quite soothing and relaxing. Doing his best not to freak out, he just kept her close, as well as it was quite comforting, for both of them. While he kept drawing circles on her skin, they both fell asleep quickly, feeling quite drained from energy after the ‘fight’ they had earlier that day.


	18. No hints Needed

After a few days, staying in the small village, they got to know that the roads were ‘walk able’ again, and decided to get going over to Pewter City. The kid were a bit upset about Gladion leaving, as he wouldn’t be able to see or learn any more card tricks, though, Gladion told him that he now had time to practice until the next time they met, which probably would never happen. But he said it and the expression lighted up on the kid, nodding vigorously. After a few more exchanged words, Gladion and Luna left. As the road had been stomped down, it would be easier to get over to Pewter, and faster.

They started to travel in silence, thinking about the few days they had been there, and gotten rather close. To close in Gladion’s mind, knowing that he would have to go back to Alola at some point, but he didn’t know when that would happen, or if he even wanted to anymore. In those few days, he had gotten to know her in a completely different way. She were nothing like he had imagined. Luna were the perfect counterpart to his snarky remarks, the one who managed to calm him down if he got too riled up with his thoughts, and being the one to put him in his place if he said something that were rather offensive. He did instigate a lot of it by acting needy to have her close, which backfired.

He hadn’t really been sleeping well for years, and being in Kanto didn’t help either, being in a foreign region. Ever since they started their travel over to Pewter City, the initial thought were to get her away from Chad, which were quite dangerous, for both him and her. As well as the first time they both were sleeping outside, staying close to keep themselves warm through the night, he had gradually slept better. The best nights of sleep were in the village, just regaining energy. By being there, they had a few encounters of almost kissing, but were either interrupted or one of them looked away. The closer they had gotten to actually do it where a day ago, when the kid and its friends had dragged them out to join them sledding in the hills. They had fun, but it got awkward when they crashed into a snowdrift.

As they crashed into the snowdrift, Luna flew over him, landing on top. Laughing softly for a little before their eyes met, it increasingly got silent between then, and he reached up to her face, removing some of the hair strands that had gotten in the way on her face out of the way. Letting his hand linger at her cheek, gently pulling her closer. On instinct, she tilted her head, their lips getting closer, but got interrupted when some of the kids were yelling their way, asking if they were alright, since they had been laying sprawled out for a minute or two. At the time, they hurried up and away from each other, and it got incredibly awkward, and they both were blushing messes for the rest of the day. It calmed down a little for the evening and night, but it was just as awkward the next day, when they left.

Luna were walking a little in front of him, and weren’t saying anything, at least anything that weren’t considered important. Since she were close to Pallet town and the Victory road, she figured that she might pay a visit to her grandparents if the weather allowed it. Gladion’s mind were racing, not sure what he would be doing when they arrived to Pewter. Thinking about the possibilities, it was far more plausible that they split up, as he had done what he intended to do.

_ Getting her safe from the creep... _

The thought triggered some feelings he thought he had buried down within himself for years, or at least, when he arrived to Kanto. A feeling he had been struggling with for years. He kept looking over at her occasionally, trying to figure something out, but it was hard. It was rather awkward now between the two, and he didn’t really dare to start up a conversation, in fear to make it even more awkward.

«What are you going to do when you get over to Pewter City?» she then asked, breaking the silence.

«Oh..um...I’m not sure.» he replied, not wanting to fully answer on the question. «What about you?»

«Hmm...Might just be visiting my own grandparents…If they want me around that is.» she replied.

She didn’t look back at him, as she were quite red and wanted to hide the blush as much as possible. He just hummed softly in response, looking around at the path they were taking. The older man had told them that it would take around a day or two to get over to Pewter City, as the roads and paths now were visible after people had been walking there for a few times, and the trip would be shorter than usual, which would take around a week when there was snow around, as well as it depended on how much snow there had gotten around on the route.

Knowing it would take around one or two days, they decided it was for the better. Gladion had, now, been in Kanto for around ten months, and it were getting closer to Christmas. He never understood the fuzz about it, probably because they didn’t really celebrate the holiday in Alola, not to the extent he have seen in the articles from the other regions. Luna didn’t really celebrate the holiday either, but she surely didn’t mind it, she found it rather fun and interesting. Walking down the path around Mt. Moon, Gladion figured that he could try and hint something at her before Pewter City, but he didn’t know how, as well as he did predict himself to fail doing so.

Continuing down the path, it started to snow, which made them both stop and look up at the sky. It was nothing new, but the sky were as clear as it could get, with a few clouds to the side, which were probably where the snowflakes came from. Starting to walk again, they exchanged a few more words before it became silent again, and agreeing to find some shelter for the night, before it got to dark around them. They found a massive tree a little on the side of the road they were walking on, and got over to it. There wasn’t much snow under it, so they got two blankets out, one to sit on and the other to get wrapped in. Sitting close, which made both of their heart speed up, pounding hard in their chests with the blanket over them both to keep themselves warm. On the way, Luna had been debating with herself if she should do it or not, as due to the old traditions in her clan, it will bind her for life. She were itching to do it, and she could tell that he were on the same level on the subject.

She swallowed thickly, giving of a heavy, but silent sigh. «You sure you can take the consequences?» she asked, sitting up and facing him.

Gladion didn’t understand what she was talking about. «What are you even talking about…?» he asked, not looking at her.

«Just as i said it...You sure you can take the consequences?» she repeated firmly.

«I guess.» he flatly replied to her, shrugging.

She nodded, and hesitated a little, but reached for his cheeks and made him turn towards her. As she made him turn, she leaned in and placed her lips softly on his. His eyes grew wide as he saw her getting close, and even bigger when he felt her lips on his. He didn’t think twice about leaning into it, kissing her back. Keeping their lips locked for a few seconds, the kiss broke. Parting from it, their noses were lightly touching as their eyes locked.

_ «A deal is a deal...» _ she muttered.

He didn’t reply, but lifted her chin up a little and locked their lips again softly. Brushing their lips softly against each other, he reached for her waist, pulling her closer to him. He pulled her into his lap after a few more kisses, breaking it as their foreheads were touching.

«What does that even mean…?» he asked, muttering it.

_ «No turning back now...» _ she replied softly.

«Why would i?» he said, tightening the grip around her waist.

He pulled her even tighter towards him, moving his head down so his forehead were touching her collarbone. His heart were fluttering like crazy, and he had butterflies in his stomach. These were entirely new feelings for him and he didn’t know how to handle them, or why he got them, but he knew that she were the reason for it, and he didn’t hate it. Luna wrapped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair gently. She couldn’t see it, but Gladion had a genuine smile plastered on his lips. He kept holding her close, giving her a soft kiss on her neck, which made her giggle softly. He loosened the grip around around her, letting her turn around, leaning her back against him, while he put his chin on her shoulder. She reached for the blanket again, and he took it off her hands, wrapping them both in it.

_ No hints needed… _

He still had the smile across his lips, which Luna now noticed and poked his cheek gently. The blush he had on his cheeks intensified, but he didn’t care and just nuzzled into her neck, and she gave another soft giggle. Looking out from under the tree they were sitting under, the snow had stopped, and the sky were as clear as it could get, with a few clouds cruising by. The moon were shining brightly, illuminating the surroundings around them. Sitting under the blanket, just looking around at the surroundings, taking in the landscape, Luna leaned more into him. Gladion were resting his chin on her shoulder, but turned his head a little, laying his head down on his cheek and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and let it out with a soft and content sigh.

Luna saw and smiled softly. «Oyasumi...» she said softly.

He didn’t know what that meant, but hummed softly and gave a lopsided smile as he had an idea what it could mean. «Good night to you too...» he murmured.

She sunk a little to the ground, getting more comfortable while not moving to much, getting herself ready to sleep, if she could manage it. Her heart were pounding hard in her chest, and she were sure everyone could hear it, which was embarrassing, but at the same time, she didn’t care. Now they just had to get to Pewter City, and decide what to do from there. She were, somewhat, planning to visit her grandparents, but knowing that they were in the hidden village inside the bamboo forest, on the border between Jotho and Kanto, she wasn’t too sure about it anymore, as outsiders wasn’t really ‘allowed’ into the village. She eventually managed to fall asleep without any major trouble as the current events this evening.

The night went by quite quickly, and Gladion woke up first in the morning, by some snow that fell down off some branches on a nearby tree, making the birds scatter and fly off in a hurry. Not moving to much, he were still resting his head on her shoulder, looking around at the landscape around them. Luna were still very much asleep. He couldn’t move much, as it would result in Luna waking up, since she had put her head on his. He kept looking around the place, at least until she lifted her head up from his, giving of a yawn as he lifted his from her shoulder. As she finished yawning, she gave off a soft sneeze.

«Bless you.» he muttered softly.

«Thank you.» she muttered softly back.

He nuzzled into her neck again, giving her a soft peck. «Slept well?»

«As well as i could at least...» she replied, and looked over at him. «You?»

«Not to terrible.» he replied in a husky voice.

She hummed softly and gave him a soft smile, to which he just planted a soft kiss on her lips. She returned it, which ended up them sharing a few soft kissed before getting up on their feet and getting ready to start walking towards Pewter, which should be a few hours away at this point. Getting the blankets packed up and getting themselves mentally ready, they were off, taking on the snowy roads.


	19. 'Drug'

On their way to Pewter City, there wasn’t much going on, other than passing a few others that were on their way to Cerulean City. While walking towards Route 4, they did notice that there were something, or someone following them. Exchanging looks, they decided to ignore it, and just push forward as they reached the route, getting onto more walkable paths. There wasn’t much going on as they continued over to Pewter City, and could see it in the distance, which meant that they were close and could get something to eat and find a place to relax.

The road were getting quite slippery because of the snow that had frozen over the ice, making it even worse than what it was initially. Luna were rapidly slipping as they walked, and eventually linked her arm with Gladion’s, to keep herself steady. Gladion just chuckled softly, which made her puff her cheeks and pout a little.

«Not funny...» she lightly hissed.

«I know...It’s hilarious.» he just replied, looking away from her with a smug grin on his face.

She growled lightly at him, which made him almost laugh, but kept it in, not wanting her to be more frustrated than what she already was. The one who were following them were no other than Chad. He had taken the route from Fuchsia City, and then over to Cinnabar Island, and then over to Pallet Town. Once he reached Pallet Town, he started to walk towards Mt. Moon, thinking about climbing it and to meet the two on their way over, but almost got busted when he saw them coming his way, having taken the long route around the mountain side. Watching them closely as they passed, he noticed that there was something different, but couldn’t really tell why, other than that she linked her arm with his because she kept on slipping on the road. He didn’t like the fact that they were close, and still had his mind set on getting her, without knowing that the two had already settled it. Following them towards Pewter, he kept his distance, not wanting to get caught by them, or anyone else.

It didn’t take to long before they were in Pewter City, and could relax a little, but first they had to find a place to stay. Looking around, they found an Inn close to Route 2. They got in, got a room and their bags inside before going out again, seeing if they could find anything interesting to eat. Chad were just around the corner, watching them, and trying to act ‘normal’ as other people passed by him. As others were passing him, they kept giving him weird looks as he kept watching Gladion and Luna around the city. It came to a point where someone asked him if he were okay, which he just snarled for them to leave him alone, and that he was busy. They just backed off and let him be.

He could see that Luna looked more happy than usual, and weren’t as ‘on guard’ as when she were around him a few weeks ago. Her smile were so beautiful, and it made him even more determined to not give up on her, even though she had turned him down several times. He didn’t know that she had already given herself to Gladion, which he, himself, didn’t fully know. Gladion and Luna ended up at a shop and looked around, finding a few food items that looked edible. They got a few of them and paid for it before walking out, deciding to look around the city a little before heading back to the Inn.

Chad kept his distance, but once the two thought they were alone, Gladion stole kiss from her. Chad’s jaw dropped as he saw it, only for Luna to return it shortly. It made him rage at the sight and wanted to attack as he saw it, but kept himself from doing so, but it was hard.

_She’s mine, and she will be mine forever…_

Gladion and Luna had taken one of the food items and opened it up, mostly because she were curious on what it tasted like, as she had never seen it before. Seeing that she was curious about it, it increasingly got him curious about the food as well. She opened the wrapping and took a small bit off of it, chewing a little.

«What does it taste like?» he asked, looking at her.

«Hmm...» she started, swallowing it. «It tastes rather sweet. Not sure if you would like it.» she said, and held it up to him.

He hummed softly and took a bit of it himself, chewing it for a little. «Oh...Yeah, it’s rather sweet.» he muttered.

She giggled softly and nodded. «Do you even like sweet foods?» she asked.

«Won’t really go for it unless it’s some kind of candy...» he muttered.

She nodded. «I’ll just take the rest then.» she said softly.

«You like it?»

«It’s not that bad, and i can grow to like it.» she replied, taking another bite off of it.

Gladion just nodded, letting her have it as he surely wouldn’t have it, the food being to sweet for his taste. Looking at her, seeing that she were munching on the food item, he couldn't look away from her lips, thinking on how sweet she would be tasting after eating something sweet like that. Luna noticed that he were looking at her, and looked over at him, giving him a sweet smile, to which he just smiled softly back at her. They turned the corner and walked down a street, completely forgetting that they felt that someone were following them, and were just minding their own business. Chad kept following them, but lost them after they had turned another corner, heading back to the Inn through a different street. Gladion had sensed it again, and therefor taken a different street, though, Luna didn’t mind. It had been a while she had been in Pewter City, much less, with someone. The thought that she were with someone made her blush, getting really conscious about the situation.

«Should we just get back to the Inn?» he asked her, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone were following them.

She nodded and hummed softly. «Sure.» she replied softly and finished eating the food item. She didn’t notice that he were looking over his shoulder, being suspicious of someone following them.

They got back to the Inn, and into the room that they were using. Going inside, he placed the bag with the food items on the table in the room while Luna were about to sit down, he stopped her, pulling her close, stealing a kiss from her again. Parting from it, he smirked at her and licked his lips.

«I can get used to something _sweet_ like this.» he murmured.

Luna blushed and lightly pouted, only for him to chuckle and lock their lips, softly brushing his against hers. Sharing a few soft kisses, he slipped his tongue in between her lips, which took her by surprise, but didn’t stop him as their tongues started to gently brush against each other. The kiss broke when they heard something hit the window on their room, looking into that direction. Gladion let go of her, and they both walked over, looking to see what it was, and where it possibly came from. Not seeing anything, they closed the curtains, letting out a soft sigh. They exchanged looks and she just shrugged and walked past him, sitting down at the table. Gladion did the same, but sat down behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She giggled softly as he planted a few soft kisses on her neck, but flinched and yelped lightly when he bit her lighty on her shoulder. «Gladion!...Ow...» she whined softly.

«I didn’t bite you that hard~.» he murmured.

She puffed her cheeks, and leaned back, so much that they both fell backwards, which was something she predicted. Falling backwards, he kept holding around her tightly, dragging her with him down, letting out a soft groan as he hit the flooring. She just gave a soft chuckle, placing her arms on top of his. He wasn’t to impressed, but smirked a little before giving her another bite on her shoulder, which made her yelp a little again and he chuckled softly. They got silent, just laying there and listening to whatever that were happening around were they were. There wasn’t much going on around at the Inn, but there were a few occasions that people were walking by, talking and chatting about something. Gladion closed his eyes, just trying to enjoy the silence while he had his arms wrapped around her, feeling her petite frame and weight on him were quite soothing for him, which he found odd, but didn’t question it. Luna turned her head towards him and gave him a light peck on his cheek, which gave him a soft blush and he smiled softly.

«Tired?» she asked, seeing that he had his eyes closed.

«No, i’m just...» he started and looked at her from the corner of his eyes, seeing her grey eyes, looking straight at him. «..Just...enjoying the moment, i guess…?»

She just gave him a smug grin. «Oh?» He just hummed softly and closed his eyes again, to which she just gave a soft giggle at.

Out in the city, Chad were walking around every street, trying to figure out where they had gone and kept getting increasingly angry and frustrated that he couldn’t find them. What he didn’t know was that they were at the same Inn that he had a room as well. With a soft sigh, trying to calm himself down, and telling himself that he would just try and find them tomorrow again, he started to head over to the Inn. Getting there, he stomped his way over to his room, only to pass the room Luna and Gladion were in, hearing them talk and her occasionally giggling. A grin gradually appeared on his face as he heard them, as he could recognize her voice from anywhere. Finally knowing where they were, he finally relaxed, and could start planning his next move on to get Luna, and get rid of Gladion, one way or another.

It had gotten quite late, and Luna had gotten herself under the duvet on the futon while Gladion were taking a quick shower, feeling quite gross after the few days of sleeping outside again. As he finished, Luna were under the duvet on the futon, sitting and reading in a book that were in the room. Gladion took a look at the scar he had gotten, which was quite big and were across his torso. It could definitely had been worse if Luna wasn’t there and quickly healed the worst of it, though, he could clearly see that she were still regretting what happened that day, even though he had told her that it wasn’t her fault.

Putting on his boxers and PJ pants, he ran his hand through his hair a little before he walked out, making sure it was looking somewhat decent. He walked out and saw her sitting up, leaning against the wall, looking down at the book she had found. There was an extra futon, but he had no plans on letting her sleep _that_ far away from him. There was no chance in hell that would happen. He sat down beside her, looking over at what she were reading.

«And what are you reading?» he asked, looking down at the pages.

«Nothing of importance, really. It was just laying around and i got curious.» he said, shrugging.

She closed the book and put it to the side, looking at him as she tilted her head a little to the side, making a few hair strands fall out of place. He reached up to her face, removing them and pulling them out of her face, letting his hand linger on her cheek a few seconds before he pulled her closer to him, locking their lips. He loved her lips, as they were so soft and were still, somewhat, tasting sweet from the sweet food earlier. Sharing a few more kisses before breaking it, crawling in under the duvet more, only for him to lean over her, locking their lips again. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her as close as he could get her, gently starting to feel his way down her back to her lower back.

Slipping his tongue in between her lips again, his hand going from her back to her hips, gently feeling her up her sides on top of her garment, while she gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders, arching her back slightly towards him, pressing her body up at him on instinct. He broke it, locking their eyes, feeling their ragged breaths continue to grow heavy on them.

«You are like a fucking drug… you know that?» he said at her.

She just smiled softly at him. «What type of drug?» she murmured.

He smirked at her. «Oh...I’ll show you what type of drug.» he murmured back.


	20. Cloud Nine

Locking their lips again, Gladion kept his hand on her hip for a few seconds before trailing down to her thigh, groping her gently while lifting her leg up ever so slightly. A small, yet desperate gesture to get closer to her. Their tongues gently touching, running around each other in circles, while their breaths gradually got heavier, gasping slightly for air on occasion. He started to lean more over her, putting his weight on her slowly. Running his other arm under her back, placing his hand on the back of her neck as the heavy kisses broke, planting his lips on her neck. A soft gasp came from her, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, lightly keeping him close to her while trying not to sound too loudly and needy.

Letting go of her leg, he trailed his hand up, and under her garment, only to get stopped by the lacing that kept the cloth together on her. Removing his lips from her neck, he looked down at her, finding the bow and undid it, letting it loose as he ‘unwrapped’ her. Once the lacing were loose, he continued to feel her up her side, trailing her soft curves as he smashed his lips onto hers again. Her arms were around him, but started to trail down his back, feeling him down his spine. As she let her fingers run down on his gently, she could feel that there were more scars across his back. Moving her hands up to his shoulders again, she started to trail them down his chest.

Feeling her hands softly run over his chest, down his torso made him get butterflies in his stomach. It wasn’t unpleasant, but did make him slightly uneasy, starting to think that he would start doing anything wrong, or go to fast forward. Her hands traveled down to his lower abdomen, slightly getting in under his PJ pants. His boxers and PJ’s were already feeling a bit on the tight side, being quite aroused already. He didn’t stop her as she lightly tugged on it. Breaking the kissing, their eyes met, noses touching. Luna giving him a soft, yet quite the needy look. He gave a soft smirk at her, moving fully on top of her and sat up a little, looking down at her a little. The garment she were wearing were gently covering her, barely, following the soft curves of her body. A soft blush appeared on his cheeks, as well as she blushed, her cheeks as red as they could get. He just gave a soft smile, which made her slightly flustered.

Placing her hands over her face, trying to hide her blush. «D-don’t look at me like t-that...» she muttered.

He just smiled more and reached for her hands, taking them in his, intertwining their fingers as he put them above her head, resting his forehead on hers. «Why are you hiding…?» he murmured to her. «Should i stop?» he then added, looking into her eyes, already knowing that he probably wouldn’t get an answer on the first question.

«No...» she softly replied, her voice slightly shaking, mostly from the adrenaline she felt.

As she replied, he hummed softly, leaning down and gave her a tender kiss. He let go of her hands, and slightly sat up and placed his hands on her hips, dragging the garment up, slowly revealing her as he pulled it over her head, tossing it to the side and leaned down to her again, placing his lips on her neck, gently running giving her kisses, and soft nibbles, trailing down to her collarbone. He were resting his weight on his elbows as he placed his hands on her breasts, groping her gently, but firmly. She gave off a soft squeak-like moan when he trailed his lips down to her cleavage, slowly moving to the side, wrapping his lips around her nip. He gently ran his tongue around in circles, tugging gently with his teeth, while running his thumb over the other. Soft moans were coming from her as he started to trail down her body, letting go of her breasts and running his hands down her sides, stopping on her hips, continuing to trail his lips down to her inner thigh.

He stopped for a second, letting himself calm down a little, taking a few deep inhales before placing his lips on hers gently. Running his tongue over and lightly sucking, she let a soft moan escape, arching her back slightly up in a desperate attempt to get closer, lightly starting to move her hips. Gladion kept running his tongue, hitting her sweet spots while his breath grew heavier, feeling his member slightly throb in excitement from her soft moans. Feeling her body starting to tense up, he stopped, licking his lips and wiping his mouth before going up over her, looking down at her a little before leaning down, locking their lips softly, running their tongues over each other roughly.

As their lips were locked, he pulled down the PJ pants, along side with his boxers, revealing his length. Breaking the heavy kissing again, he sat up slightly, looking down at her while she moved her arms in front of her, trying to cover herself. She didn’t fight as he guided himself into her, making her let out a soft squeak. He let out a soft huff, feeling her tightly wrapped around him. He leaned over, taking her hands in his and intertwined their fingers as he slowly started to move his hips onto her. Leaning down to her, their cheeks were touching as he steadily kept thrusting slowly into her.

Keeping the pace steady, he looked up at her and locked their lips roughly, muffling the moans that came from her as much as possible. Breaking the rough kisses, Gladion let go of her hands, and hunched over her slightly, picking the pace up slightly. As quickly he let go of her hands, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, lightly digging her nails into his skin. Trying to keep her moans silent, she bit her lower lip, muffling it to the best of her ability. Feeling her inner walls lightly spasming around him made his mind almost go blank, letting off a light huff of pleasure.

As he picked the speed up again, thrusting roughly into her, she started to dig her nails into his back, her moans getting more frequent on each thrust into her. Keeping the pace, he shifted his position quickly, placing a hand on her hip, going faster into her while keeping her steady on him. Luna kept digging her nails into his back, breaking the skin as she arched her back, pressing herself up towards him as she reached the end of her run, giving off a loud, but a slightly muffled, moan. Feeling her inner walls get tight around him, he let out a soft huff, feeling that he were getting close to the end of his run.

Keeping the pace, he eventually reached the end of his run, getting on the edge. He pulled out before any damage were done, as being sure that they both weren’t ready for anything of the sorts. He shut his eyes tightly, feeling his lower jaw tremble from the intense feeling of pleasure, letting out a soft groan like moan before letting down his weight on her, wrapping his arms around her back, placing his head on her shoulder. Luna loosened her grip around him, gently starting to run her fingers on his skin in circles, both breathing heavy and trying to calm down and catch their breaths again.

Having his arms around her, he leaned back and gave her a soft kiss. Meeting her tender gaze, he felt himself getting lost, only managing to give her a soft smile back before she placed her hands on his cheeks, pulling him down to her, locking their lips again for a few moments. Breaking it, he kept holding around her tightly as he rolled over to the side. She gave a soft yelp of surprise, which just made him chuckle lightly. While laying on the side, he pulled her up a little before he nuzzling into her neck. Luna were softly tracing circles on his skin with her fingers, her cheek resting against his head as she kept running her hands softly on his skin. Gladion closed his eyes a little, only to slightly open them again, looking at her collarbone. A soft smile appeared on his lips, feeling like his heart were to jump out of his throat any second. He closed his eyes again, letting out a soft and silent sigh, focusing on her tracing circles on his back gently.

Her touch were like pure magic, making him calm down to the point that he were close to fall asleep, but as comfortable as he was, he reached for the duvet, pulling it over them. As the duvet were over them both, he pressed his lips onto her neck, giving her a soft peck as he started to gently rub his thumb on her back. He eventually stopped, as he fell asleep. Luna gave a soft giggle and continued to trace circles on his back softly. Her heart were beating hard and loud, and were sure that he could hear it, despite him being asleep. She gave him a soft peck on his forehead before she closed her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep, her arms still gently wrapped around him, as his were around her.

The rest of the night were as normal as it could get. Both sleeping soundly, being content in each others arms. They had both moved around in their sleep, Gladion ending up on his back, while Luna were on the side, her front towards him. With a soft and sleepy sigh, Gladion woke up, running his hand through his bangs, getting them out of the way from his face before looking around a little, finding Luna on his side, sleeping soundly. Turning over to his side, he reached for her cheek, gently running his thumb on her skin softly, slowly moving over to gently run his thumb over her lips. Keeping his eyes on her, his expression softened, getting the butterflies in his stomach again. Inhaling a few times, letting them out with a soft and silent sigh, as not to wake her up. He scooted closer, wrapping his arm around her, studying her while she were sleeping, gently running his hand up and down her back.

Gladion sat up after a while, stretching and cracking a few joints back into its place. He gave a soft groan as he stretched himself, letting a soft sigh escape him while he took a quick look outside the windows. It was snowing heavily, to the point that he just didn’t look impressed. Placing his hands back, he rested his weight on them while still looking outside, getting lost as he kept looking at the sky and the snow that kept falling down. Luna woke up and slowly opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times as her sight got used to the light in the room. Looking around in front of her, she looked over at Gladion, who were quite lost in thought.

She sat up slightly, which snapped him out of his thoughts, looking over at her. «Did i wake you up?» he asked in a husky voice.

She shaked her head, humming softly. «No.» she replied softly, sitting up on her knees, her long hair falling down and slightly covering her.

Sitting up more, he leaned over and lifted her chin up towards him, placing a tender kiss on her lips. «Good morning.» he murmured to her.

«Ohayõ~.» she replied softly.

Moving his hand over to her cheek, only for her to tilt her head more into his palm, giving him a soft smile made him melt all over again. She then asked if he slept well, knowing fully well that she were quite unruly when sleeping, moving a lot in her sleep. He just gave a soft chuckle and shaked his head, telling her that he didn’t notice anything. She blushed and nodded, looking rather embarrassed down at the futon they were sitting on.

«I believe i would have told you earlier if you were moving a lot in your sleep.» he told her, removing his hand from her cheek.

«Maybe...Or that you are just too polite to say anything.» he replied, tilting her head at him.

«...Or that...» he muttered, gaining a faint blush on his cheeks, looking away in embarrassment.

They had slept in, as they could hear some of the staff walking in the hallway, chattering about stuff about guests and how to improve their service. They could hear that they were somewhat tiptoeing around, not wanting to wake up people that might still be asleep as they were wandering around. Luna looked over in the direction where the sounds were coming from, only for Gladion to pull her down with him. She yelped as he did, landing on top of him while he chuckled softly from the yelp she gave, to which she puffed her cheeks, getting a little flustered about it. Gladion just watched it happen to her and couldn’t help but to chuckle more. She placed her hands on his cheeks, squishing his cheeks in, which made him start laughing while she lightly hissed for him to stop. He didn’t care, as he found it just cute that she got so flustered that she figured that she had to squish his face and hiss at him to stop, to her surprise, had the opposite effect. Instead of resisting her, he just pulled her down, placing a soft kiss on her lips, to which she just looked down at him, giving off a small pout.

«What?» he asked while his cheeks were being squished.

«No fair...» she muttered.

He were about to start laughing softly again, but got interrupted when she smashed her lips on his, taking him by surprise, but quickly leaned into it. Breaking it, he just looked up at her. «Talking about being unfair...Who’s the unfair one now?» he said.

She just gave him a smug grin, giving a small shrug. «I don’t know…~» she replied in a smug tone.

He just scoffed lightly, to which she just gave him another soft peck on his lips. «Quite the dangerous game you are playing now...» he muttered.

«Oh? Am i?» she replied, keeping the smug grin on her face.

He smirked and tighten the grip around her, which made her lose the smug grin on her face. «You sure are~.» he murmured.


	21. Viridian City

They kept laying around for a little longer, sharing a few soft kisses and generally just messing around. Luna were about to get up, but he quickly pulled her down again. Looking down at him, she asked what they should be doing, as they certainly couldn’t lay around the whole day, as well as she had mentioned that she did, somewhat, plan to visit her grandparents. He closed his eyes, thinking about what to do, and he certainly didn’t want to stop her from visiting her family. 

«Whatever you want to do really. You did say you wanted to pay them a visit, so i can’t really deny you that.» he said softly, running his hand gently up and down her back.

She hummed softly. «I know, but i’m asking anyway.»

«Appreciate that.» he muttered.

«Wanting to tag along?» she then asked, tilting her head a little.

«Am i even allowed to?» he asked her, raising an eyebrow at her.

She scoffed. «Of course you are allowed to tag along...» she said. «...You...are my...boyfriend...after all.» she timidly added, her cheeks getting as red as they could get.

Gladion just smiled softly. «True.» he murmured. «So...When are we leaving?»

«I-i don’t know...Later?» she said, tilting her head a little, looking a bit unsure about her answer.

«Whenever you want to really. I don’t know where we are going anyway.» he added.

She nodded. Before she started to get up, he planted another kiss on her lips. Luna just smiled softly and crawled off of him, reaching for the garment of hers. Gladion sat up again, running his hand through his hair a little, as well as scratching the back of his neck lightly. Luna put the garment on, and started to retie the lacing on it, which Gladion found quite erotic, and couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He gained a faint blush on his cheeks, watching her with quite the interest in what and how she did it. It was probably on how she did it, making it look quite elegant and easy.

«How to you even cope with putting that thing on like that…?» he asked.

She hummed softly, finishing the lacing on it and got up on her feet. «I just got used to it after a while...» she said, giving him a soft smile, followed by a soft giggle.

Gladion nodded, and Luna noticed the faint pink color on his cheeks and sat down beside him, poking his cheek. She had a sweet smile on her lips, to which he just muttered something inaudible and looked in a different direction. She kept her finger on his cheek while giving off a soft giggle, which made his blush even more noticable. She eventually stopped poking him and got up on her feet again, starting to run her fingers through her hair. Gladion reached for his boxers and pants, putting them on in a hurry before looking over at her again. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, she were just too interesting to watch, and there was still a lot he wanted to know about her. She finished running her fingers through her hair, and bendt turned toward him, catching him stare at her. Luna just gave him a soft smile and passed him, getting her outfit and starting to get it on. Gladion just needed his shirt on, so he took his sweet time, while keeping his eyes on Luna.

They got dressed and headed out, getting something quick to eat before thinking on starting to head over to Viridian CIty, which were pretty close to Pewter City. Her family didn’t live in that town, but it was easier to get around to the Victory Road from there, and then over to the bamboo forest that separated Jotho and Kanto. He were somewhat familiar with bamboo, but never seen a so called ‘forest’ of it, only knowing of the green plant from Route 11 in Alola.

«The trip shouldn’t take to long, but we won’t be staying at the Inn for a few days, that i’m sure of.» she said as they walked out of the Inn, heading out to the streets.

«Better get going then, considering that there is snow and that in itself might make the trip longer.» he added.

Luna nodded. «True. Though, we won’t be at home for long. I’m just going to say hi and get some stuff...»

He hummed softly. «If you say so. Not on good terms with your old folks?»

She shaked her head. «Not really. I don’t really mind though.»

While walking around the street, they found something that were quick to make, and took them on the go, heading back to the Inn to get their things, starting to head over to Viridian City. While they were doing that, Chad were out and about, munching on something he had found as he saw Luna and Gladion in the distance, heading back to the Inn. He froze for a few seconds, waiting for them to turn the corner towards the Inn again before he hurried over, watching them. He could hear that they were going to visit her grandparents, which he knew were lived, being familiar with the layout of the bamboo forest, and had managed to get on good terms with the old folks. Hearing that, he decided on the stop to head over to them, thinking of giving them a false warning about Gladion, hoping that they would shun him away, leaving Luna wide open for him to get her.

Once they entered the Inn, he hurried over, taking his time while following them, not wanting to get noticed as his room were in the same direction as theirs. Taking it slow, waiting for them to get into their room before he could hurry over to his, grab his stuff and then leave just as quickly. Once their door closed, he ran for it, got into his room, and grabbed his stuff, stuffed into his bag and then ran out, heading towards Viridian City. Gladion and Luna heard that there was someone running in the hallway, but not knowing who it was, they shrugged it off, continuing to mind their own business. Chad were walking fast, and on occasion, jogging, as he needed to be there before the two.

_ Maybe Luna will like me if her grandparents approve of me…? _

The thought made him smile, and were finally thinking that she were his, and that Gladion, the ‘Alola boy’ could just go home to his region again, and die painfully.

_ She sure will approve of me now… _

Gladion and Luna finished getting their stuff, but knowing that they would, most likely, come back, they asked to keep some of their stuff safe while they were out for a few days, but not keeping the room occupied. Some of the staff ladies agreed and took their bags, and put them in a storage at the entrance area, where they could easily find it again whenever they got back. Luna thanked them and bowed deeply, and the staff said goodbye to them, wishing them well as they left. Heading out and starting to walk through the streets, there was already a lot of people out and about, but they were talking about someone who looked like they were in a hurry, which was an odd sight around this place, were everyone usually took their time and didn’t bother to hurry. The two just found it odd, but of course, the city still needed something else to talk about at times, knowing that Brock wasn’t the only ‘gossip’ around the place for once. As they approached Route 2, Luna asked him about Alola, wanting to know about the region.

«There isn’t much to tell really...It’s four islands that make up the region, it’s a tropical one, meaning it’s hot, and occasionally humid at times. Barely rains, but when it does, it’s usually a storm.»

«Oh? So...umm...Like Hoenn? In a way?» she asked. «Uuh...I don’t even know what i’m asking...» she added, giving a half hearted chuckle.

«The region is a lot warmer than Hoenn, i can assure you that.» he replied. «And don’t worry about it...You haven’t really been out of Kanto and Johto, am i right?» he added, looking down at her.

She nodded. «It’s the only two regions i have been in...like...ever.»

He hummed softly and nodded. «That’s fine...More regions than me at least.» he replied, giving off a soft sigh. She nodded and smiled sweetly at him.

Chad, on the other hand, were already in Viridian, running most of the route over, and had already started to approach Route 22, heading towards Victory Road. He stopped right before he decided to take on the route, taking a small break and imagine what Luna would say when her grandparents were fine with him being around her.

_ I’m sure she will like me… _

He stood there in awe, which made bypassers uncomfortable when they noticed him, looking all hyped and sparkly. Nodding to himself, he started on the route, determined that Luna would finally fall for him, as well as having her grandparents blessing. He didn’t know the traditional way for a Crane to ‘give themselves to someone’, and surly didn’t know that Luna had already done so. He were slightly skipping his way on Route 22, being overjoyed by the thought of her ‘finally’ loving him.

Gladion and Luna were just starting on Route 2, taking their time while she told him about Kanto and Jotho, as well as he told her about Alola. He enjoyed listening to her, which was rare and odd for him, knowing fully well that he wasn’t the best listener, according to his sister, Lillie, at least. The route didn’t take to long, as they kept chatting, on the way. Upon entering the city, people were quite weirded out, talking about a guy that were talking to himself and being overly happy about something. Luna and Gladion exchanged glances, not sure what to think about it, but were slightly creeped out by it, as the same thing started in Pewter City when they left.

«Probably something in the air...» he muttered, trying to lighten up the mood as he could see that Luna didn’t like it, thinking the worst.

«Hopefully it is...» she muttered back.

«Should we keep going to Route 22, or camp here for the night?» he asked, looking at her.

Luna looked around a little. «Well...There is an Inn close to Route 22, so we could spend the night there.»

He nodded. «Sounds like a plan.»

Looking around a little in Viridian City, people were rather looking at them weirdly, like they had done something bad. What the two didn’t notice were that they were all looking at Gladion. Him and Chad being blonde, as well as having green eyes were uncommon in Kanto and Jotho, as well as Chad had been there earlier, unknowingly created somewhat of a scene, which now everyone they passed thought were Gladion and that he had just found a companion to get around with. The looks and glares they got as they approached the Inn were uncanny and quite disturbing, but once inside the Inn, they quickly got themselves a room and settled down. Luna went on making some tea from the set that were in the room, Gladion sitting opposite of her at the table, watching her make it.

Gladion were lightly growling to himself, which Luna tilted her head at him, wondering why he were doing so. «What is it?»

«Not sure why, but i’m pretty sure that people were staring at me...and not you.» he lightly growled.

«Why do you think that?» she asked, and poured some tea in a cup, sliding the cup over the table over to him.

«The fact that i’m already out of place in this region...Not sure what i’m doing.» he said, sighing.

«And what are you doing?» she added, pouring tea in a cup for herself, putting the teapot away.

Gladion took a sip of the tea, making a grimace as he still didn’t like it. Luna giggled softly as she sipped on it. «Well...» he started, looking at her. «I think i’m done...so to speak.» he said, smiling softly.

«Oh?» she replied quickly before looking over at him, seeing his soft smile. «Oh…» she then added, her face getting quite red.

His soft smile turned into a soft grin. She puffed her cheeks a little, sipping on the tea. Gladion didn’t like the liquid, but sipped on it for a while himself, trying to get used to it, one way or another. He came to think about her family, and that she did talk about her grandparents, but didn’t really say anything about her parents. While she were stripping off her outfit, folding it neatly and putting it on the side, he were about to ask her, but stopped himself, not wanting to intrude on something she might didn’t want to talk about. As she were in her ‘undergarment’ again, she sat down at the table, finishing the tea of hers.

«Ain’t you going to remove that too?»

She looked up at him, seeing a growing smirk on him. Her face became as red as it could get, giving a small pout as she covered her breasts with one arm. «No...» she muttered, looking away from him.

«Need my help?» he added.

«Stop it...» she muttered silently.

«What? Didn’t catch that…?» he asked, leaning a little over the table.

«I said...Stop it!» she hissed, pursing her lips.

He just shaked his head slightly, holding his hands up in defeat a little. «Alright...Alright.» he replied, knowing fully well that he wouldn’t, enjoying seeing her flustered.

The evening came, and after a lot of him teasing her, he got up and walked over to her, picking her up and moving her over to the futon before he leaned over her, giving her a soft kiss. She gave a soft yelp as he picked her up, still being utterly flustered by him, but didn’t know how to fight him off. Her frown, that she had gotten a few minutes earlier disappears when he gave her a soft kiss. He removed his shirt before going down, giving her a few more soft and tender kisses, one of his hands firmly placed on her hip. He didn’t do much more than teasing her, as he didn’t want to go overboard, seeing her this flustered would probably just make it worse. He got up and stripped down to his boxers and got under the duvet, as well as Luna got under it while he undressed. She turned her back at him, hiding her face in her hands. As he got under the duvet, he scooted closer and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him and planted a kiss on the base of her neck.

«Sorry for teasing...You just get so flustered~.» he murmured.

«Baka...» she replied softly.

He chuckled softly and got more comfortable, and Luna turned around, facing him. As she turned, he slipped his arm under the pillow, making her use his arm, slightly, as a pillow. She didn’t mind as she snuggled up close to him, closing her eyes, trying to get to sleep. Gladion gave her a soft peck on the forehead, running his thumb softly on her back, feeling that she slowly fell asleep, as her breathing became slower and softer. Giving her another peck on her forehead, he closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep himself. As they slept for a little, there was some ruckus in Viridian, about some of the gangs in Saffron arriving, looking for Chad, as he had managed to piss them off somehow.


	22. Midori Kurēn

It slowly getting darker and darker, and Chad had finally managed to find the bamboo forest, thinking he could find his way through in the dark. He did know the route through the bamboo forest when it was light, but he had never taken the route whenever it was dark, but he didn’t care, and needed to be in the village as fast as possible, so he went for it, walking into the so called ‘Jade Forest’ by the local villagers that lived within. Chad were still overly happy, being so sure that Luna would definitely like him now. It was rather rowdy in Viridian City, at least after a gang from Fuchsia City came along, looking for Chad. He had apparently been quite aggressive towards them, talking shit and tossing insults their way some time before he met Luna again. The gang had tried to keep it low, but as they kept seeing him, wandering around and literally stalking a girl, they had enough, taking matters into their own hands.

By the gang being loud as they were wandering the streets, Gladion woke up by it, sitting up slightly, looking over at the windows. He took a quick look at Luna, who were sound asleep. He got up and silently got over to the window, taking a quick peek outside, making sure that it surely wasn’t Chad that were doing anything stupid, or were around outside of the Inn. Not seeing anyone that were familiar, he closed the curtain again.

«Everything okay?»

He looked down at Luna, who had woken up and were slightly sitting up, looking at him. He just hummed softly and nodded. «It’s fine. Just some idiots being loud apparently.» he muttered.

She hummed softly and nodded, laying back down again. Gladion stepped away from the windows, getting back onto the futon and under the duvet. Listening to the ruckus outside, he scooted close to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and nuzzling into her neck. Luna quickly fell asleep again, while Gladion were awake for a few more minutes, just laying there in silence and listening to whatever that were happening outside. He eventually fell back to sleep, despite it being loud outside. The gang from Fuchsia City were looking all over the place, but didn’t find him. In anger, they started to head towards Pallet Town, it being the next place around, not knowing about the hidden village in the bamboo forest. Chad, on the other hand, were now lost in the ‘Jade Forest’, and kept growling and throwing fits whenever he figured out that he were on the wrong route.

«Probably could just burn down this entire forest and get it over with...» he growled to himself as he sat down, leaning his back against a bamboo tree.

He kept looking around the place, but did decide just to wait out the night, and try to get some sleep while it was still dark. He got as comfortable as possible, crossing his arms and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep quickly. It was quite hard, as it was cold and snow were everywhere, but he managed to fall asleep after a while.

**\--------**

Morning came, and Luna woke up, blinking a couple of times, letting her eyes adjust to the light. She slightly sat up, looking over at Gladion, who were still sleeping. Letting out a yawn, followed by a soft sigh, she laid down again, rubbing her cheeks gently, trying to wake up a little. Gladion turned around in his sleep, placing his arm around her. She looked over at him and smiled softly, reaching over to him and pushed his bangs away, which made him open one eye at her, giving her a soft smile.

«Good morning~.» she said softly to him.

He hummed softly. «Morning...» he murmured, tightening the grip around her, nuzzling her shoulder as he closed his eyes again, giving off a soft, content sigh.

She just smiled and let her index finger gently tracing his jawline. A soft smile slowly appeared on him as his eyes opened up again, looking into hers. He gave her a soft peck on her shoulder and pulled her closer, lifting his head a little, resting his chin on her shoulder. She gave a soft giggle, placing her hand on his cheeks.

«We should get up and get going though...» she muttered.

«Yeah...» he murmured. «But there is no hurry, is there?»

«No, there isn’t, but still.» she replied.

He hummed softly and slightly got up, leaning a bit over her as he nuzzled into her neck. She gave a soft yelp when he gave her a light bite, which made him chuckle, adding a soft kiss where he bit her.

«What was that for?» she asked, looking up at him as he leaned back up.

He smirked. «Just making you mine...» he murmured.

«An Alolan way to do it, i guess…?» she added.

«You can say that.» he said, not sure how to put it. He just did it because he wanted to.

«Okay...» she just softly replied, not thinking too much of off it.

They kept snuggling for a while longer before getting up, getting dressed and packing the little they had with them, heading out. Luna told him that the bamboo forest were also called ‘The Jade Forest’, since it was green, though, because of the snow, it wasn’t as luscious as when spring and summer were around. Not really sure what to expect, he just nodded. Getting out of the Inn, they started to head over to Route 22, they got stopped by someone shouting at them. They both stopped and looked over, seeing a bunch of guys hurrying up to them, they all looking rather irritated and annoyed at Gladion.

One of them, supposedly the leader of the group, pointed at him. «You! I have been looking all over the place for you, motherfucker!»

«What…?» was all Gladion managed to mutter their direction. Luna had a surprised expression on her face, not sure what was going on.

«Is that the girl you have been stalking!?» he snarled and pointed at Luna.

Gladion and Luna exchanged looked, and they both shaked their head. «Sorry...But i think you got the wrong guy...» he muttered unimpressed.

«Oh, i’m sure you are the guy i’m looking for.» he hissed, stopping right in front of him, only noticing that Gladion were slightly taller than him as he stood there. Trying to make himself bigger, he crossed his arms. «Blonde...Green eyes….Yeah, you gotta be the guy!» he added.

Luna just facepalmed, and Gladion sighed, them both muttering ‘Chad’, which made the guy start cold sweating, starting to feel like an idiot. «Again...I’m not the one you are looking for.» Gladion hissed.

«Prove it!» he hissed back, the group behind him nodding and saying the same in a more hushed voice.

Gladion were about to lose it when Luna just stepped up in front of him, linking her arm with his. She started to tell them that they had the wrong guy, and that they should look elsewhere, as well as the guy they were looking for name’s were Chad, and were very much different from Gladion. The gang were listening closely, nodding at what she were saying, keeping their eyes at Gladion, which made his frown more noticeable on his face. Luna got done telling who they were looking for, which they just kept nodding at.

«I get what you are saying...But i’m not sure i’ll believe in that.» he said, shaking his head slightly.

«Look...I don’t expect you to believe her, or me for that matter, but what she said is the plain truth.» Gladion hissed, looking rather scary.

The guy just hummed and kept nodding. «Alright...I’ll take your word for it...But if you are lying...I’ll be sure to find you and beat the shit out of you.» he snarled, giving a quick hand sign to his group, which scattered, and walked past them, with him following them shortly.

The two just watched them walk off, and Gladion were growling to himself, which Luna noticed. «Let’s just get going.» she said.

«By all means...» he replied, trying his best not to hiss it at her.

She dragged him with her, starting on Route 22. He couldn’t get it out of his head that Chad were still around doing shit, and causing Luna some unnecessary stress, as he could feel her tense up while dragging him along. Luna were, indeed, stressing by the ‘news’ of Chad being around, and apparently still looking for her, or rather, following her. She had finally started to relax and feeling safer, only to start feeling scared again in a second. The route weren’t to long, and when Gladion asked where the bamboo’s would start showing, she told him that they had to get onto the Victory Road, walking there a for a little before seeing anything that would resemble bamboo. He nodded and let her lead the way, as he had no idea where to go, much less, how to find the place. Luna haven’t told anything about her clan, but from what he had read and seen from her, he had a feeling he already knew. She most likely wouldn’t tell him anyway, so he didn’t bother to ask.

Getting past Route 22, they started on the Victory Road, Luna pointed up a head. «There’s the bamboo forest, at least the start of it.»

He looked in the direction she pointed and saw the greenery in the distance. «How do you even find the place in there?»

She gave a soft giggle. «It’s easy...As long as you know your way around it.»

Gladion rolled his eyes. «As long as you know your way around it...»

«Just stay close and you won’t get lost, Gladion.» she added, giving him a sweet smile.

«I’m not doubting that.» he quickly replied.

Walking up to the bamboo trees, Gladion were surprised on how long they were, mostly because of the ones in Alola, that weren’t that long. Entering the so called ‘Jade Forest’, Luna reached for his hand, just to make sure that he were still with her and wouldn’t get lost. Chad were quite close by, but were still sleeping and didn’t hear them pass. After they had gotten quite the way, he woke up by falling to the side, face planting into the snow. The sudden wake up call made him sneeze. After the sneeze, he could hear Luna in the distance and panicked when he heard Gladion reply, as well as it sounded that they were occasionally laughing at something. He got up, dusted off the snow from his face and clothes and grabbed his stuff in a hurry, looking around and were surprised that they didn’t notice him, nor see him. In his state of panic, he got walked over to the path Luna and Gladion had made, and started following their trail, but were walking slowly, as he couldn’t outrun them anymore. If he started to run, they would hear him and Luna would hate him even more, which he didn’t want.

_ Can’t let you see me...Not yet… _

Walking through the forest, they slowly made their way to a clearing, and Gladion could see house roofs in the distance. He didn’t say anything as she kept guiding him towards it. Getting out of the forest, they stopped, and Gladion were looking around in awe.

«A village...In here?» he muttered.

«Yeah. It don’t really take that long to get here, though, the forest tends to make it confusing for outsiders.» she replied.

«Right...Outsiders like me.» he added quickly. Thinking about it a little more, he knew he always have been an outsider, and still were one in Alola.

Luna noticed that he got slightly lost in his own thoughts and squeezed his hand lightly. He snapped out of it and shook his head, telling her that it was nothing, and that he just got a little mesmerized about the place. She nodded and hummed softly, and started to walk down, with him following her closely. He found it fascinating that there was a small hidden village around here, with people living as well. Thinking more about it as they walked the streets, it was as the books he had read about. A hidden village, in a bamboo forest, which should be the famous, and supposedly, died out Crane clan. The houses were a mixture of Jothonese and Kantonese style, which he found interesting.

Luna stopped and turned around, smiling sweetly with a faint pink color on her cheeks. «Welcome to Kurēn.» she said sweetly.«»

«Kurēn?» he parroted, not sure what that would mean.

«Midori Kurēn. It’s the name of the village.» she replied.

«Oh...» he muttered, looking around.

She turned again and kept dragging him with her. «My grandparents place is just around the corner, so we’ll be there soon.»

«Alright.» he muttered, starting to feel uneasy, knowing that they were her family and he had to make a good first impression.

Walking up to the house, she knocked on the door, and Gladion increasingly got more nervous, looking around the place, involuntarily looking for a way to escape from the situation. Though, he couldn’t, as she were still holding his hand. They heard footsteps and the door opened, meeting a quite angry looking older man. Gladion swallowed thickly, being incredibly nervous. The man were looking straight at Gladion before his expression changed, looking rather happy as he grabbed Luna, forcing her into a big bearhug.

Luna yelped, and the man laughed. «Luna! It’s been a while!» he exclaimed. The way he grabbed her made Gladion worried that she would break her back, staring wide eyed at them. The man put her down, placing his hands on her shoulders and shook her a little. «How are you? Haven’t seen, nor heard from you a while!» he said and looked back at Gladion. «And who is this young man?»

«That’s Gladion...» she muttered.

He gasped. «A boyfriend!?» he exclaimed loudly. He stepped out and in front of him, holding his hand out, offering a handshake. «Pleasure to meet you, young lad. Name is Kai.»

«Gladion...» he muttered back, being really uncomfortable, accepting the handshake.

Letting go of his hand, he gestured for them to come inside, as it was cold and he surely didn’t want to appear like an cold old man. They stepped inside, and closed the door behind them, taking off their shoes and putting the little stuff they were carrying to the side. Kai were excited, and it could show. Gladion couldn’t get it out of his mind that he looked like Santa Claus, which was weird in itself.

Luna looked at him, seeing that he were quite uncomfortable. «Are you okay?» she asked, clearly sounding worried.

Gladion cleared his throat and nodded. «I’ll survive.»

«If you say so.» she replied, giggling softly.

Gladion looked around the place as they walked into the living room. Kai had placed himself in his favourite chair and gestured for them to sit down as well. Luna took place on the couch, were Gladion sat down beside her. Kai then told them that her grandmother were out, and would probably arrive sometime later this evening. He could clearly see that Gladion were uncomfortable, but tried his best to act normal.

Kai then started fake weeping, wiping his eyes from fake tears. «I’m so happy that you ain’t a hatchling anymore...» he muttered.

Luna got beet red. «Ojīchan!» she said somewhat in a hushed voice, being embarrassed.

Kai made a fake sad expression, followed by a fake pout. «Aww...It’s been to long, Luna. You should visit more often.» he said, and then looked briefly over at Gladion. «Or should  _ have _ .» he added.

«I haven’t been visiting because of O bãchan...She don’t like me.» Luna said.

«Aww...that’s not true. For sure she’s strict, but she doesn't hate you.» he said, sounding a bit upset that was what she thought.

Luna mentioned that they wouldn’t be long, but would at least stay a few days before going back to Pewter City, to which Kai nodded at, accepting the fact that she probably would tag along to the region Gladion were from. Making casual talk, he offered them something to drink, which they accepted. He got up from the chair and walked off, heading to the kitchen and started to make tea for Luna and Coffee for himself and Gladion, thinking that tea probably wasn’t the thing for him. Gladion kept looking around the room, getting to know the layout a little before Kai came walking in again.

«Tea for you Luna, and coffee for you, Gladion. You don’t seem like the kind to like tea.» he said, chuckling. Luna took the tea, holding it in her lap, looking a little around the room as well.

«Thanks...» he muttered and took the cup on hand.

More casual talk started, and Kai asked whatever of questions, wanting to know, more or less, everything. The two replied to the best of their ability. He were listening quite carefully before he asked about Chad, and how he were doing. Gladion frowned lightly, taking a sip of the coffee, while Luna got uncomfortable. Kai noticed that there was something off, but asked anyway what it was, wanting to know what had happened.


	23. Family Visit

Luna looked down into the tea, and sighed deeply, starting with what had been going on for the part years with him, which Gladion didn’t even know. She told them that she kept him around, as she didn’t really have anyone else to call a ‘friend’ at the time, and he did seem nice and considerate, at least until a few months back, when he started, again, to try himself on her, only for it to escalate to the extreme. Gladion understood her reasoning for keeping him around at the time, and it was mostly the same reason as he kept letting Guzma and his folks into his place. 

_ Just to feel less lonely... _

She continued with when Gladion came around, and literally, turned everything upside down, helping her and literally telling Chad off with no hesitation. They had, somewhat, of a rowdy start, and were still not sure why he helped her at the time. She looked at him and tilted her head, asking why.

«I don’t really know how to answer that...» he muttered, looking away from her and fighting the blush that slowly crept onto his cheeks.

Kai laughed softly, knowing how it was to talk about feelings, and didn’t want to push the young man any further. Luna just tilted her head more, but didn’t pry it out of him, scared that it might scare him away if she did. Luna just nodded and left it at that. Sipping their beverages, Kai looked out of the window to his side, wondering where his wife were, as it had started to get dark. He got up from the chair and told them to make themselves at home, as he would be taking a stroll outside, looking to see if he could see his wife, Luna’s grandmother, arrive to the village, safe and sound. The two nodded and watched him walk out of the living room, getting a jacket and putting on shoes before leaving. Sitting around for a little longer, finishing their beverages, she took both of the cups and headed towards the kitchen, putting them away. As she left for the kitchen, Gladion got up, as he found a picture that caught his attention. Walking up to it, he took the frame on hand, looking at the two people who were in the photo. A man and a woman, who most likely were her parents. While looking at them closely, Luna walked up to his side, looking over at what he were looking at.

«Your parents i suppose?» he asked.

She nodded and hummed softly. «I don’t really know them...other than their names.» she replied.

«What happened?» he questioned her.

She shaked her head. «I don’t know.»

He looked at her, with a slight worried expression. «Sorry...» he muttered, placing the picture back onto the shelf.

«It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.» she said and gave him a warm smile.

Luna then suggested that they got the little they had with them and put it in the room they most likely would be sleeping in. Gladion nodded and followed her lead. Walking out to the hallway, picking up their stuff and walked off into a different corridor. The house were quite small, despite it looking big from the outside. Gladion’s place were the opposite. His looked small from the outside, but once inside, it instantly got big. Their bags on hand, they continued to the end of the corridor, as Luna stopped and opened a door at the end, walking in. Gladion stood in the doorway a little, looking inside the room, which was stuffed with boxes and two futons rolled up in a corner, alongside a pair of pillows and duvets.

«Storage room?»

Luna looked over at him. «Used to be my room when i were still living here, so i’m not surprised they started to use it as a storage room when i left.» she replied, putting the bag down on the floor.

Gladion nodded and walked in after she asked for his help to get the futons ready. Putting his bag down, he started to help her, getting the futons on the floor and ready for whenever they were going to sleep. As they worked on that, they both heard the front door open and close, as well as some chatting, with a quite familiar voice. Finishing up, they got out and closed the door before walking towards the living room again. Approaching the door to the living room, Luna stopped when she heard who’s voice it was, hesitating before opening it. Gladion frowned and didn’t like who he heard as they walked in, seeing a quite familiar face, sitting in the couch and talking with an older woman, as well as Kai.

«Chad...» Gladion growled in a hushed voice.

Luna swallowed thickly, and Kai could see that she were uncomfortable, at least after telling him what had happened between the three of them. The older woman, named Xian, were sitting beside him, chatting with him, not knowing the story behind it all. Hearing them walking up to the two seat couch, the two sat down. Xian looked over and were looking quite surprised to see Luna, and Gladion with her, which were quite similar to Chad. She did a double take on the two, before giving Luna and Gladion a sweet smile, greeting them. Luna bowed slightly, as well as Gladion did, trying his best to stay polite. Chad gave them a polite nod, acknowledging that they were there before his energy changed for the worse, looking over at them with quite the creepy aura. Gladion’s frown became more visible, but kept his cool, not wanting to start a scene.

«It’s been a while, Luna.» Xian said sweetly. «And who is this? If i may ask.»

«This is Gladion...» she muttered softly. «He’s my boyfriend...» she added, blushing into a deep red.

«Oh...» she said and looked at him. She were certainly not impressed and scoffed lightly.

Luna were quite offended by it, though, Gladion didn’t care about getting insulted, being more focused on Luna being safe now that Chad were in the house. Chad kept himself polite, and it were quite obvious that he tried to talk the two older folks into agreeing for him to woo Luna. Kai had nothing to say about it, and avoided the subject, as Luna had already found someone, and didn’t really understand why Chad were still going on about it. Xian were all smiles and kept the conversation going. Listening to them talk, Luna and Gladion kept themselves quiet, not adding anything, beside replying whenever a question were thrown their way. Gladion kept his eyes on Chad the whole time, not giving him the benefit of the doubt for the rest of the evening. Xian offered Chad to stay the night, which he accepted with a sweet smile. Kai couldn’t really say much, as he knew that his wife were the boss in their relationship, so he just nodded and let it be with that. Xian got up from the couch and gestured for Chad to tag along, as she would show him were he would be sleeping for the night.

After a while, Luna decided to retreat to the room, which Gladion did as well, following after her to her old room. Kai and Xian decided to head to bed as well and left for their room, while Chad told them that he would just get a glass of water before hitting the futon as well. Xian said it was alright before leaving him to himself. Gladion and Luna got into their room, and she gave a loud sigh, placing her hands on her face, rubbing it in pure frustration.

Gladion walked up to her, wrapping his around around her, and could feel that she were slightly shaking. «You’ll be fine, Luna. He won’t do anything, and if he does...I’ll do more than just kick his ass.» he muttered to her, nuzzling softly into her shoulder.

She gave a half hearted chuckle, putting her arms over his. «I know you will...I’m just...»

«Scared...And i know why.» he finished the sentence for her. She just hummed softly, nodding. «Let’s just try and get some sleep.» he added, giving her a soft peck on the base of her neck.

She nodded again, and took a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. Gladion let go of her and they both stripped down. Luna got into her undergarment and, as usual, folded her outfit neatly and put it to the side. Gladion got under the duvet, sitting up until Luna got under it. She were sitting up a little herself, still being quite stressed that Chad were in the house. Gladion reached for her, lifting up her chin and gently ran his thumb over her lips.

«You’ll be fine.» he muttered to her. He leaned in, giving her a tender kiss.

Locking their lips, he slowly leaned more onto her, pushing her gently down onto the futon. Once laying down, he slightly moved on top of her, keeping their lips locked, moving his hand over to her waist, gently holding her close. It being quite late, and the two getting lost in each other, heavily making out. They didn’t notice that the door to their room were slightly open, and Chad were peeking inside, seeing them make out. He kept his cool while watching for a little, but didn’t like the sight, fully believing that she were going to be fully his, and that was final. Slowly and silently sliding the door shut, he were silently growling to himself in anger as he walked out and into the room he got, which was in the other end of the corridor. To far away from her, which made him even more furious.

Getting into his room, he sat down on the futon, planning what he would do the next day, as well as he had to do it quickly. Snickering to himself, he got something that probably would work, but it had to happen if Luna were alone, and Gladion out of sight. He didn’t even bother to get under the duvet as he laid down onto the futon, looking up at the ceiling, and listening to the sounds that came from outside as he kept a grin on his face, falling asleep while thinking of his so called ‘master plan’ to get Luna. Gladion and Luna kept making out for a while, at least until she broke it, muttering that it was her grandparents place, and whatever that were going on was inappropriate. He chuckled softly, but nodded, at it would be quite the embarrassment if they got caught, not knowing that Chad had already seen the start of it all. He got off of her, and sat up again, reaching for the light switch and turned the lights off before he laid down beside her, making her back face him as he pulled her close, nuzzling into the base of her neck, giving a soft peck. They quickly got comfortable when she reached for the duvet, pulling it up to cover them. Gladion took a grip on it and pulled it more over them both before he wrapped his arm around her again. Gladion fell asleep rather quickly, while Luna were still awake, being still very uncomfortable that Chad were in the house. Luckily Gladion were around, so she did feel safer. Taking a grip of his hand, she pulled it up closer to her, intertwining their fingers and closed her eyes, trying her best to calm down from the slight scare of Chad being around, getting some sleep.

The night were rather long, as Gladion kept waking up by random noises that came from the outside throughout the night. It didn’t bother him to much, as he just went back to sleep, but it was annoying, as he knew he would be a mess in the morning. Despite him waking up occasionally, he weren’t as tired as he thought he would be when he woke up in the morning. Sitting up, giving off a soft groan as he stretched his back and arms, a few joints cracking back into place, he took a quick look over at Luna, who were still asleep. Looking at her, he came to think of what her choice would be. Going with him to Alola or staying in Kanto. Whichever she choose, he were sure that he would stay around, not wanting to let go of someone he finally could say that he loved. Looking at her, he couldn’t help but to smile softly, feeling all warm and fuzzy, as well as truly feeling accepted, something he never felt with his own family, nor along with Guzma and his gang. Sitting a little longer before he got up, getting dressed and fixing his hair slightly before walking out silently, not wanting to wake her up, much less anyone else as well. Walking out and over to the kitchen, finding Kai sitting there, sipping on some coffee, he greeted him and offered him a cup as well. Gladion accepted and got himself a cup with the dark liquid. Kai apologized on the behalf of his wife, as she didn’t know the story behind them and Chad, which Gladion said was fine, as they didn’t know he were around, or much less, following them to this extent. Kai then started to question him about where he was from and how he ended up in Kanto. Gladion replied to the best of his ability, without giving off to much details about his family and acquaintances.


	24. Decision to Make

After a while, Chad woke up and quickly sat up on the futon, being as quiet as possible. Sitting there in silence, he heard that Kai and Gladion were chatting, exchanging a few words about Kanto and Alola. He couldn’t hear Luna, as well as Kai mentioned that Xian, his wife, had left a little earlier, getting a few things before getting back home and starting to make something to eat for everyone. Slowly and silently getting up, he walked over to the door to his room and slowly opened it. Getting over to the kitchen, and taking a quick peek, making sure that Luna wasn’t there, which she wasn’t, he smiled softly, looking down the corridor, at the door were she were behind. He slowly backed off, being as silent as possible as he made his way down to her room.

He got to the door and opened it slowly, looking inside, seeing Luna still sleeping. He walked in, and closed the door, standing with the door for a few moments before walking over to her. Looking around a little, he saw a few ribbons laying on some of the boxes, and quickly took them on hand. As she were still sleeping, he took the opportunity to roll her over onto her front, and taking her hands on her back, trying her wrists together. Pulling the duvet off, he got to work, tying them together, she woke up, hearing his ragged and heavy breathing. As she were to look over her shoulder, Chad took a firm grip of her hair, making her unable to turn, as it would hurt.

Chad leaned down to her ear, his heavy breath telling her more than what he intended to tell her. «Now i can finally make you mine...» he muttered.

He leaned back, moving on top of her and started to lightly touch her shoulders, going down her arms. She panicked and tears formed in her eyes, starting to shiver, while still keeping a firm grip on her hair. «Oh my god...Your skin is so soft, Luna...» he muttered.

«Stop...» she lightly muttered, tears starting to fall down on her cheeks.

«Can’t wait to finally make you mine...» he muttered, followed by a soft chuckle. «Can’t believe you want to be with him...When i have been here all the time, waiting...But now...I’m done waiting.» he added.

Luna kept muttering stop a few more times, as well as slowly making his hand go down her back, finding his way to her waist and hips, lightly starting to thug on the lacing on the garment. She started to get louder when she told him to stop, even calling his name at times, but he pushed her face into the pillow, snarling for her to ‘shut up’ and ‘be a good girl and stay quiet’. While Chad were slowly untying the lacing, she wiggled her body, trying to shake him off, to no avail. Gladion and Kai sat in the living room when Gladion found it a bit to silent for his liking. Concentrating his hearing, he could slightly hear some muffled sounds, only to get surprised when the entire house shook violently, hearing a loud crashing sound, coming from Luna’s direction. Gladion almost threw the coffee cup onto the table and ran, as well as Kai followed just as quickly.

Getting over to the door, and opening it in a hurry. The sight were horrifying, as Chad were holding her head, face down, into the pillow, and him snarling at her for using some wind magic that shook the entire house. Luna were wiggling to the best of her ability, in an attempt to get him off. Kai were horrified at what he saw, and didn’t really know what to do when Gladion ran in, taking the back of his shirt, pulling him back violently.

«You motherfucker!» he snarled and threw him back, making him hit the wall hard.

As he got lifted up slightly and thrown back, he let go of her hair, and she lifted her head up, gasping for air. Gladion sat down beside her, and undid the ribbons on her wrists, pulling her up to him. Looking at her face, he could see that her eyes were glowing, which were a clear indication that she were close to use some strong magic that would put her out for a few days. Chad groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he looked up, seeing that Gladion were now there, holding Luna tightly.

Chad sat up slightly, kneeling as he swallowed thickly, looking over at Gladion. «You...» he snarled at him. As Chad snarled, Gladion sent him a death glare, looking quite scary at him.

Kai stepped in before anything else went down, taking Chad by his collar and dragged him out of the room, as well as the house. Gladion shifted his attention over to Luna again, looking down at her, seeing that the lacing on her side were quite loose, indicating that Chad had some horrid motives worked out. Looking at her again, he saw that her eyes were still glowing.

«Luna...It’s fine...I’m here...» he muttered to her, pulling her close and held around her tightly.

She put her hands over her face, shiver violently as she started to cry. Hearing her cry, and feeling her shiver broke his heart, feeling that he had failed to keep and make her feel safe. He kept muttering that he were sorry and kept holding her tightly. The glow in her eyes eventually died down, as well as after an hour of him just sitting there with her, holding her close. He pulled her back a little, looking at her tear stained cheeks as he gently wiped her eyes for coming tears, only to pull her back, letting her bury her face into his neck, gently rubbing her back. She were still shaking violently, sobbing lightly and he didn’t know what else to do other than to be there with her, hold her tightly and just trying to comfort her. While he were around her, comforting her, Kai had taken Chad outside, and dumped him onto his ass on the front porch, in a corner where he couldn’t escape as he found a chair and sat in front of him, crossing his arms, giving him a scary look. Chad sat there, looking at the older man and swallowed thickly, not sure what to do at this time, other than to look around, trying to find a way to escape.

Another hour went by, and Luna had calmed down to a point were she wasn’t sobbing anymore. She were sitting back, trying her best to calm her breathing down while Gladion just sat there, looking at her with a worried expression, feeling like a massive disappointment for her. Taking her face in his hands, he made her look at him.

«I’m sorry...» he muttered, gently running his thumb on her cheeks. «I failed immensely...» he added shortly.

Luna shaked her head. «Gladion...»

«I’m really sorry...» he continued. «If you’ll let me, i’ll beat the shit out of him...» he added, feeling the anger rise within.

She managed to give him a soft smile, and as she did, he pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged back, tightly, and just gave him a soft hum as a response. «I don’t really care...» she said softly, her voice muffled as she had buried her face into his shoulder.

Sitting around for a while longer, he made sure that she were alright before he left the room, letting her collect herself a little more and get dressed for the day, as he were sure that they weren’t staying any longer, not after something like this. He walked out of the room, and headed over to the kitchen and living room, not finding anyone, but heard Chad snarl and telling lies outside. Walking to the front door and opening it, he saw that Kai were sitting there in silence and Chad on the opposite side, leaning his back against the wall. Looking at him, Gladion scoffed and walked in again and closed the door. Kai heard and saw, and were feeling quite proud of him. Gladion decided at the point that Chad wasn’t worth his time and just let it be with that, but he were still feeling the anger lingering, but  managed to keep it under wraps for now.

Kai got up from the chair, and didn’t say anything to him, just giving him a nod to the side, gesturing that he should leave, and do that quick. Chad got up on his feet, and as he walked up, and passed, he kept telling that he wasn’t at fault. Kai had none of it, and didn’t give him any attention of the lies. He was furious for the young man to assault his own granddaughter like that, and didn’t want anything to do with him. Chad slowly got down the stairs and slowly started to walk off, occasionally looking over his shoulder, seeing that the old man were keeping an eye at him, making sure that he left. Once Chad were out of sight, Kai walked inside again. He stood in the hallway, looking over at the corridor, at the door to her room. He wanted to hurry over and comfort her, but he knew that Gladion were there, doing that for him, so he let it be with that. Luna had gotten herself dressed, but had sat herself down again on the futon, not sure what to do with herself. Gladion sat down in front of her, and took her hands in his, rubbing his thumb on top gently.

He looked over at her. «What do you want to do?»

«I don’t know...» she replied, shaking her head. Gladion looked down at her hands, and were about to say something, but Luna got something out before him. «...But i don’t want to stay in this region any longer...» she added.

Gladion looked up at her with big eyes, as he had never imagined her to say anything of the sorts, as it looked like she were to comfortable being in Kanto. Gladion slightly nodded. «Alright.» he replied softly to her.

«When did you plan to leave the region…?» she asked, looking over at him.

He gave her a half hearted and unsure smile. «I don’t know...Whenever i felt like it, i guess...» He looked around the room a little. «But let’s get back to Pewter City first, and take it from there...I don’t want you to make a hasty decision.» She nodded and hummed softly.

They eventually got up from the futon and walked out of the room and into the living room, finding Kai sitting there, still looking rather furious, but once he saw Luna, he broke down and got up from the chair, walking over to her. He pulled her into a tight bearhug, repeating himself as he kept asking if she was alright and that he was sorry for what happened, and would totally understand if she never visited them anymore. Luna just replied that she would be fine, eventually and dropped the bomb on him.

_ I might be moving to Alola… _

He pulled her out of the hug and just nodded. «I totally understand that...» he replied, sniffling. «Just...Don’t forget about the old farts that me and O bãchan are.» he added, giving her a lopsided smile.

She added that she wasn’t sure yet, and would definitely visit if the opportunity came up, depending if she went to Alola with Gladion. Gladion just stood on the sideline, listening and watching, nodding occasionally. Kai then looked at Gladion, pointing at him. «If she really tags to Alola, only to get her back in tears...Mark my words, young man. I won’t be nice.» he added, slightly growling it at him.

Gladion nodded and felt quite intimidated, looking at the older man with big eyes, not sure what to say, or do. Luna just sighed softly, and then asked where her Katana was, as she were sure she wouldn’t come back to the village in a while, and if going to Alola, she would at least have it with her, it being a memorial from her mother. He nodded and told her that he would go and find it, in the meanwhile, they should take a seat, waiting until he got back with it. The two watched him walk off, going to find the sword, as well as they got into the living room, taking a seat in the couch. Gladion were quite worried still, and would have liked to know what she were thinking at a time like this, as she were unusually quiet. Sitting there in silence, she made the big decision to herself, but didn’t tell Gladion, nor her grandfather when he came back, with the Katana on hand.


	25. Final Decision

After the incident, Luna and Gladion did stay a few more days before leaving, getting over to Viridian City first, and got into the Inn there, putting down their  stuff and generally just relaxing again after the trip over. Before they got to the Inn, they stopped by a stand and got themselves something to eat and some bottled water. Luna had, somewhat, calmed down, but were still very quiet, which Gladion found quite worrisome. Getting around the street and into the Inn, getting a room they sat down at the table, casually starting to talk, or at least trying.

«You sure you are okay?» he asked her.

«I’m fine...Just...still in some kind of shock...i guess.» she muttered.

He hummed softly. «You sure? Nothing i can do?» he asked and moved over to her side.

As he got over to her side, sitting beside her, she leaned onto him. «You’re doing fine, and i can’t really ask for anything else...»

«...Anything else...?» he asked, getting the feeling that she didn’t finish what she were supposed to say.

«...For you to just...Stay around...» she finished, gaining a faint blush on her cheeks.

Smiling softly, he lifted her chin up, gently placing a tender kiss on her lips. «I won’t go anywhere...» he murmured. Luna gave him a soft smile and slightly nodded, giving him a soft kiss back.

The soft kisses continued, and Gladion moved his hand onto her cheek, keeping her close. It didn’t go beyond that, as he didn’t want her to feel even more uneasy. They shared a few more before there was some ruckus outside, which was rather loud and annoying. Been in the room for a while, they ignored the commotion outside, but decided to go out anyway, take a stroll around Viridian City, getting to know the layout a little more before heading back to the Inn for the evening. Getting ready, they got out of the room, heading towards the entrance of the Inn, where the staff were standing around, being quite uneasy for what that were happening outside. The two walked up to one and asked what was going on, and the employee just pointed outside, to which they looked into the direction that were pointed at.

Looking out, they saw a gang roaming the street, and it was confronting the gang they meet before heading over to Route 22 a few days prior. Just standing there, looking at them shouting insults at each other were quite out of place, to the point that the police came around, asking them to leave and finish their business elsewhere, as they were disrupting everyone else. They all sent the group of police a glare, and left for Route 2. Once they were gone, Gladion and Luna left the Inn, starting to walk around the city, looking around and just wandering around. As they kept walking around, Luna eventually linked her arm with his, to which he just took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

Getting over to the start of Route 1, they stood around for a little, just looking around the place. Exchanging looks between the surroundings and Gladion, she smiled softly, which he didn’t notice, as he were busy looking around. Thinking back to the past days, she were still quite upset about the whole situation, though, Gladion had been there the whole time, which she felt made it easier. Looking up at him, she made her decision, and were sure it was the right one for her. Gladion then noticed that she were looking at him and looked down at her.

«What?» he asked, looking slightly confused at her.

She just smiled softly. «Nothing.» she replied softly.

Gladion just gave her a lopsided smile, being slightly confused. Standing there a little longer, they turned around when it started to get dark, as well as the two gangs that were around, were probably going to walk around the city, so being out of their way were for the better. On their way back to the Inn, they stopped at a stand, getting something edible that looked interesting. Getting one each of whatever the food was, eating it on the way over. It was a rather bitter food item, and Luna didn’t really like it, but kept munching on it out of politeness. Gladion didn’t mind it, being used to the bitter malasadas in Alola, and just chuckled lightly as Luna kept a grimace on her face while eating it. Hearing him chuckle make her puff her cheeks a little. They finished it right before they got to the Inn, heading straight to their room.

Once they got into their room, Luna decided to take a bath, trying to get some of the fatigue off and refresh her mind while relaxing in hot water. Gladion nodded as she told him, not saying much as he watched her get into the bathroom, closing the door. She put on the hot water, letting it run and fill up the tub as she got out of her clothes, putting them away and taking a towel, wrapping her hair up in it, not wanting to get it wet. Sighing softly, she got into the tub and turned off the water, letting herself soak sink down into the water. Sitting in the tub, trying to clear her mind as much as possible, only to doze off while sitting and holding around her legs, resting her head on her knees. Not sure how long she slept for, she felt a second presence in the room as she opened her eyes slowly, blinking a couple of times.

«Slept well?»

She hummed and nodded slightly, only to for her eyes to grow wide, looking over to the side, seeing Gladion sitting on the floor beside the tub, resting his arms on the edge, as well as his chin on top of his arms, giving her a soft smile. «H-how...how did you get in!?» she exclaimed.

«You didn’t lock the door.» he muttered.

She kept sitting in that position, looking at him while she slowly got more and more red. He caught her off guard as she looked over at him, meeting his emerald green eyes, which were as soft looking as they could get. In a flustered state, she looked away from him by turning her head around, puffing her cheeks a little. Gladion just chuckled softly. While she were flustered, she felt the water move, and arms going around her waist. She sat up, covering herself to the best of her ability.

«Gladion…!» she exclaimed in her flustered state, her cheeks getting more red.

«You seemed lonely…~» he murmured, giving her a soft peck on her shoulder.

Gladion didn’t hesitate when she looked away to just join her in the tub, knowing that she would get flustered and beet red. Letting go of her waist, he placed his hands on her shoulders, trailing his hands gently to her hands and intertwined their fingers, and stretching her arms out in front of her, making her stop covering herself up.

«Gladion...» she muttered lightly.

«Don’t cover yourself...» he murmured.

While holding her hand, keeping her arms away from covering herself, he brushed his lips softly on her skin, planting gentle and tender kisses on her shoulder and trailing up to her neck. She sat up more straight, slowly leaning more back towards him as she relaxed for each soft kiss he planted on her neck and shoulder area. As she leaned back at him, he started to wrap his arms around her again, still having their fingers intertwined. He stopped placing kisses on her neck and shoulder, placing his chin there, their cheeks lightly touching. While holding around her, resting his chin on her shoulder he closed his eyes, giving off a content sigh. Looking at him from the corner of her eyes, seeing that he had his eyes closed.

«Gladion…?» He hummed softly in response. «Would it be okay if i tagged along to Alola?»

He opened his eyes and looked at her. «I wouldn’t say no...But are you sure about that?» he asked her.

She turned a little, looking at him. «Very much so. Kanto and Jotho...isn’t really for me anymore...» she said, nuzzling him.

As she nuzzled him, he gave her a tender kiss on her lips. «Whatever you want. I can’t stop you either, can i?» he asked her in a jokingly matter.

She gave a soft giggle. «You surely can’t stop me.»

«Alola it is then.» he murmured. Luna slightly nodded and smiled sweetly.

While Gladion and Luna were busy with each other, Chad had arrived in Fuschia City, getting as far away as possible from most people, and were still quite furious and upset that he got interrupted when he finally had Luna within his line of sight. Getting over to the beach, he looked out at the open sea, seeing dark clouds in the distance. It being quite dark and the beach covered in snow, he took a deep breath and gave out a loud scream of anger. After letting out that he swallowed thickly and inhaled deeply again, letting it out with a loud and heavy sigh. Looking up at the sky, a grin started to come across his face.

«Might not have you now...But i will...Eventually, my dear Luna.»

Grinning, he looked out over the sea again, feeling the cold breeze ruffle through his hair. He turned around, looking into the city and deciding to just stay around there until he figured out a new plan on how to get her. He also knew that there was a group looking for him, so he would try and stay low for a while, hoping that the group would forget about him and move on to something new or someone else.

After a while, Luna and Gladion had gotten out of the tub and over to the futon, getting under the duvet while laying close. Gladion’s hand were on her thigh, lightly groping her before traveling up to her hip, and up her waist. Luna’s hand were slowly feeling him from his abdomen, up to his chest, lightly tracing the scar he had gotten. The evening ended with them both doing a lot of touching, just exploring each other and for him to find new sensitive spots on her that would accelerate her breathing, making her lightly gasp whenever he gently touched those places. Gladion kept his lips around her neck and collarbone, gently running his lips over her skin, his hot breath tickling her sensually. Luna were gently running her hand on his abdomen and up, and couldn’t really get any reaction from him if she found one of his ‘sweet spots’. He knew she found them, but were just good at hiding his reactions, keeping himself busy finding hers.

They stopped and locked eyes for a few seconds. For Gladion, those seconds that seemed like hours, getting lost and drowning in her grey eyes, finding them incredibly mesmerizing. She looked away and blinked, giving a timid smile, feeling slightly embarrassed that he kept looking at her like that. She did mutter that he should stop looking at her with the intense look of his, his emerald colored eyes making it even more intense than what he could control, making his eyes look like they were giving off a faint glow if the moonlight hit just right. He just smiled softly at her timid reaction, finding it quite adorable as she muttered it for him to stop. He nuzzled into her neck, pressing his lips gently onto her skin, giving her a tender kiss on the base of her neck. Wrapping his arm more around her, sliding one under the pillow, he prepared himself and got comfortable for the night, while softly running his thumb on her skin. Luna scooted as close as possible, wrapping her arms around him, making him use one of her arms as a pillow, gently running her fingers through his hair, while she ran her other hand in soft circles on his shoulder blade, gently tracing it as she got more comfortable.

Snuggling close, Gladion were utterly comfortable, letting out a content sigh as he closed his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep. Luna kept softly tracing circles on his back, giving him a soft peck on his forehead before she closed her eyes, drifting slowly off to sleep with a soft smile on her lips. Sleeping, they didn’t hear, nor notice the staff running back and forth in the hallway, stressing out about something, and were, literally, barricading the front door, as there had been some news about one of the most violent gangs coming to the city, and they sure didn’t want them to get in and cause trouble for their guests.


	26. New Destination

The two last months passed, and Christmas and the New Years even were over with. With the days passing, Luna had gotten more nervous about leaving to Alola, but were sure that it was the right thing for her, and Gladion made sure that she could change her mind whenever, and would be upset or mad at her. She did reassure him several times that she would be fine, and it was just her being nervous, it being the first time she have gotten out of a region, beside Jotho and Kanto. Gladion kept comforting her, telling her that whatever she wanted, he would stay around.

«I don’t mind staying around in Kanto, much less, move here if you don’t feel comfortable leaving.» he said softly to her.

She shook her head. «I know. But i just feel it’s time i see more of the world as well.» she said and looked over at him.

They were sitting in a room at the Inn in Fuschia City, getting mentally ready to leave for Cinnabar Island. Sitting beside her, he could see that she were nervous, and kept telling her that they could wait, though, she kept on insisting that she was fine. He didn’t really believe her, but didn’t push it either. Their things were already packed, but the ferry leaving for Alola wouldn’t leave before the next day, so they kept themselves in their room. Thinking more about Alola, Gladion started to get worried on what people would think of him when he arrived back, with a girl as well. His place being in Tapu Village, a village that were left in ruins after the war but in the last few recent years, gotten slightly build up again with time, and people moving into the new houses there.

Thinking more about it, how would Lillie and his mother, Lusamine, react to Luna. Knowing his mother, she would probably dismiss her, and completely ignore her for dear life, while Lillie would be overly excited about it. Sitting beside her, thinking about those things, Luna leaned forward a little, tilting her head at him, asking what was wrong. He saw her worried expression, to which he just gave her a soft smile, telling that there was nothing to worry about, beside some in Alola, hoping that they haven’t burned down his place.

«Someone i should be aware of?» she asked.

«More or less. He’s an idiot, and don’t really know what he is doing most of the time.» Gladion said, thinking about Guzma and his gang, and all the times he had burned down his own place, then just to crash at his place for a while.

Luna chuckled softly. «If you say so.»

«You’ll most likely meet him anyway...just...be careful.» he said, looking over at her with a worried expression.

Luna nodded. «I’ll keep my eyes open.» she said, giving him a playful wink.

Gladion sighed softly, internally praying that she wouldn’t meet him anytime soon. Once Guzma knows something, the whole region would usually know it within hours as well, considering how loud he would talk about it. Luna just giggled softly, even tho it was her way to mask the nervousness.

\----------

The day passed, and they had gotten over to Cinnabar Island, which were rather easy from Fuchsia City, but once there, they had to wait for a while before boarding the ferry, it getting ready and replacing the staff and getting new and more supplies for the trip across the ocean. It just got up for Luna that she were actually leaving the region, and couldn’t shake the nervousness off, starting to feel like a misfit. Gladion saw that she were nervous and reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers, rubbing his thumb over hers.

«You’ll be fine.» he murmured.

«I know...You keep saying that, but i can’t help being nervous...» she replied, her voice slightly shaking from the nervousness.

Before they got to the island, Luna were at the Inn in Fuschia City, just trying to calm her nerves while Gladion were roaming the city, taking a quick and last look, knowing it would either be a while, or the last time he were in Kanto. While walking around, he bumped into Chad, who were looking for Luna at the time. Chad confronted him, snarling while asking where Luna was, to which Gladion didn’t hesitate to just punch him straight in his face. Chad fell down from the impact, and looked up at Gladion with a confused look, only to see Gladion giving him a death glare, and quite the scary one.

«You better fuck off.» he hissed and passed him.

Chad didn’t do much, other than to get up on his feet, watching Gladion walk off. Growling and snarling to himself, he shouted after Gladion that he wouldn’t stop until Luna finally were his, when the vows were exchanged, which pissed him off even more. He didn’t give him any more attention, but as he kept shouting after him, the temptation to just launch at him grew, but he kept his composure as he turned the corner, getting back to the Inn, where Luna were sitting, waiting and getting nervous. Rubbing her thumb gently, waiting for the announcement to get onto the ferry and get going grew closer for every second. He didn’t tell her that he met Chad yesterday, and that he did punch his face in, which felt good, getting some of that anger out. Around another 30 minutes passed before the announcement came on the speakers that the ferry were ready, and people could start boarding, finding seats. Luna flinched, which made Gladion lightly flinch, but he ended up giving off a soft chuckle.

«Not funny...» she muttered.

«Sorry.» he chuckled softly.

They got up and got their stuff, and started to get onto the ferry. Luna inhaled deeply, letting it out with a soft sigh, following after Gladion, hesitating slightly. They got onto the ferry, found a couple of seats close to the windows and got themselves as comfortable as possible. Sitting there, Gladion were looking around the ferry, seeing the few people that would travel that far before looking over at Luna, who started to tear up.

«We can get off if you don’t want to leave or feel ready yet.» he told her, reaching for her hand again.

She shaked her head. «It’s fine...» she replied, giving off a small sniffle. «If i get off now i’ll probably never get back on again...» she added, looking at him, giving him a soft smile, while some tears started to run down her cheeks.

Gladion wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, letting her bury her face in his shoulder. «I’m sorry...» he muttered softly to her.

Luna just lightly shaked her head. «Not your fault...You’re not forcing me or anything...»

Comforting her to the best of his ability, gently rubbing her back while she were leaning up close to him, wiping the few tears that fell down to her cheeks. She wasn’t scared. It was just the nervousness and the slight shock that got to her, knowing that it would probably be years until the next time she would be in Kanto and Johto. At least she knew she wouldn’t be alone. The staff and the ferry got eventually ready, and announced that they were leaving shortly. Luna had managed to stop her tears from flowing down from her eyes, but were still leaning close to Gladion, who had moved his arm around her shoulders, gently rubbing her as the ferry started to leave the docks. As the ferry got further and further out at the sea, she slowly calmed down as well, seeing that Kanto were disappearing into the horizon.

Sitting up and back in the chair, she sighed deeply, placing her hands on her face, rubbing gently. «I feel so stupid...» she muttered, being embarrassed by her reaction.

«Didn’t really expect anything else, knowing that you have been in Kanto your whole life, just to leave like  _ that _ .» Gladion replied to her.

«I guess...I just feel ridiculous...»

Gladion just smiled softly, nodding. «I get that.»

Luna took a deep breath, rubbing over her face again before sitting up straight, looking at him. «How did you react when you left Alola?»

Gladion didn’t really know how to reply to it, other than to actually just tell her. «I more or less left in anger...I didn’t realize what i had done until i saw Kanto hours later...» he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

«Really? So you panicked when you saw Kanto?»

«Yeah...Kinda.» he said, giving off an embarrassed smile to her.

A smile grew on her lips, imagining his panicked face, which made her giggle softly. Gladion groaned lightly, but Luna did at least get a smile on her face again, as he didn’t want her to be upset, knowing fully well that he were the main reason why she tagged along to Alola. Sitting on the ferry, Gladion told her that the ferry ride would take a while, and wouldn’t be in Alola until the next evening, which Luna nodded at, and were as prepared as much as possible for it.

A few hours had passed since they had left, and Luna had fallen asleep, using his shoulder as a pillow. Gladion had stolen a book from one of the Inn’s and dragged it along, wanting something to do on the ferry ride over, beside being bored or sleeping most of the time. At least he wasn’t as lonely as the last time, running from Alola in a desperate attempt to get away from the loneliness that had gotten too strong and unbearable for him to handle. Looking over at Luna, who were sleeping peacefully on his shoulder, he ended up resting his on hers while reading. Some of the staff people were walking around, offering food and drinks, which he took for both of them, placing them on the seat beside him, waiting for Luna to wake up, not wanting to wake her up because of some food. He had read a good portion of it when she woke up, giving off a light yawn as she sat up straight in her seat.

Gladion looked at her from the corner of his eyes. «Slept well?» he asked.

She nodded. «More or less...» she muttered, gently rubbing her eyes.

Gladion closed the book and put it to the side, grabbing the food item and presented it to her. «Here. Got this a while ago.»

Luna took it and looked at it a little. «Thank you.» she said softly as she started to unpack it.

Gladion started to eat his portion as well. Luna didn’t mind the food, but it was to sour for Gladion, so he eventually put it away, telling himself that he’ll probably need it later, and it would then taste better. Luna giggled softly, seeing that he made a slight grimace as he put it away. Gladion gave a soft sigh, looking out of the window, which Luna also did, but he used that as an excuse for himself while looking at her. Recalling the loneliness he had been feeling for years while being in Alola, it was quite strange that it disappeared as quickly as she got into his life. A soft smile appeared on him while looking at her, and a warm fuzzy feeling came creeping onto him.

_ So this is what it feels like to be happy…? _

He kept studying her features, looking at her profile, and just couldn’t get his eyes off of her. Luna eventually turned and looked over at him, as she noticed that he were starting at her. «What?» she questioned him.

«Nothing...» he quickly replied.

«Sure about that?» she asked, tilting her head and gave him a sweet smile. «You have been staring at me for a while.»

Gladion became beet red and slowly averted his gaze away from her. «I have been looking outside...» he muttered.

She leaned over and poked his nose. «You sure about that? Your massive blush says otherwise.» she added, followed by a soft giggle.

Smiling sheepishly at her, he just sighed. «How can i not look at you…?» he muttered in a hushed voice. «You’re just...» he started, hesitating for once. «...Stunning...» he finished.

Luna then got beet red, just looking at him with big eyes. She opened her mouth, but closed it just as quickly, placing her forehead on his shoulder, somewhat hiding. She then started to chuckle, which turned to a soft laugh. Gladion just looked at her, utterly confused and didn’t know why she were laughing. She looked up at him, with a smile.

«I’m a  _ princess _ after all.» she said.

Gladion were still as red as he could get, but didn’t look impressed when she said that to him, as she surly wanted to forget about that. «Thanks for reminding me...» he muttered, not sounding happy.

She stopped laughing, but kept on giggling softly while he just narrowed his eyes at her, pursing his lips slightly. As he did, she took the opportunity and gave him a quick kiss, which made him shot up his eyes, taking him off guard. He had gotten so used to him indicating them that he didn’t know how to react when she gave him one. Looking at her with a surprised expression, she snorted, but didn’t laugh. She only gave him a sweet innocent smile.

«Crane got your tongue?» she said in a playful matter.

«I’ll get you back...» he lightly hissed at her, a growing smirk appearing on his face, looking rather mischievous at her. She just smiled softly at him, tilting her head as a gesture that she didn’t get what he meant, even though she fully did.


	27. Back in Alola

The trip over to Alola were long and tiresome, and it ended with both sleeping in the end, as well as Gladion managed to finish the book he stole, as well as Luna did finish it after a while. Sleeping soundly, the region of Alola were slowly appearing in the distance, and the sun were setting in the horizon, illuminating the islands. Luna woke up by a kid yelling rather loudly that it could see the region, and had its face plastered on the window in front of it. Yawning lightly, she sat up a little more straight in her seat, looking over at Gladion, who didn’t budge at the loudness. Looking around the ferry, most of the people on were sleeping or slowly waking up, getting themselves ready for whenever they would get to the region. Luna didn’t know which Island they would get off on, so when she saw the islands in the distance, she started to slightly panic. Sitting there, slightly panicking, the speakers came on, making her flinch. Gladion woke up and sat up in his seat, giving off a light groan, running a hand over his face in an attempt to wake up more.

«Slept well?» she asked.

He hummed softly. «More or less...» he replied in a husky voice.

Yawning lightly, stretching his back and arms a little while listening to the announcement that were made, telling passengers that they should start to get ready as the staff will go around, asking if people would like something to eat, and prepare to get ready to leave the ferry once it’s in Alola. Gladion took a quick glance around the ferry, seeing the other passengers getting ready to leave once they arrived at the Marine.

«We’re getting off Ula’ula Island. Which is the biggest island in the region and the most noticeable because of Mt. Lanakila.» he told her before she managed to ask him.

«Oh..Okay.» she muttered, looking outside, seeing that the islands were getting closer.

The staff walked around, making sure everyone got something to eat if they wanted to, and that they were ready to get off, as they needed to get ready to leave the Marine pretty quickly. Luna and Gladion made sure that their stuff were packed and that they were ready to leave as soon as the ferry docked up, which wouldn’t be to long until that happened. Sitting in their seats, watching the sky turn dark as the sun settled down in the horizon as they arrived at Malie City. Once the ferry docked up, Gladion and Luna waited for a little, as people were rushing to get out. Once it calmed down, they got up from their eats, grabbed their bags and walked off and out to Malie City. Once they got outside of the ferry and out of the terminal, Luna looked around, taking in the sight. Walking further into the streets of Malie, Luna kept looking around, taking in the sight of buildings that looked like they were taken out of Johto.

Gladion noticed her surprised look and just chuckled softly. «Malie’s buildings is inspired by Johto.»

Luna looked at him and got a faint blush on her cheeks. «Sorry for taking so long...» she muttered.

«It’s alright. We don’t have to rush.» he told her.

She gave a nervous chuckle and they took their time, letting Luna take in the sights of the city in the dark. She was pleasantly surprised, as she didn’t know that he were living at a place like this, as well as it made her feel more at home, being around familiar surroundings. Luna ended up a few feet behind Gladion, to the point that she jogged up to his side. She linked her arm with his, to which he just reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers as they kept walking off and onto Route 11, which was the route with bamboo trees scattered around. Luna wasn’t to surprised by that, as he had told her about Route 11, which had bamboo trees on it. While walking the through Route 11, they got over to Route 12, and walked around there. As they kept on walking, they didn’t notice that people were still around and about, even though it was evening, and people usually would be inside.

Not noticing them, Nanu were walking around, making sure some of the folks to Guzma were behaving when Gladion and this girl caught his attention. The group were looking into the direction where he was looking and they got all wide eyed. It was a new sight to see Gladion wandering around, even more so, with a girl. They all kept staring in silence, not sure how to react.

«Yo...Is that the...Mini edge?» one of the grunts muttered, looking at his fellow gang members.

«Sure looks like it, bruh...With a girl even...» a female grunt muttered silently.

«Damn...Mini edge scored...» another grunt added.

They all exchanged looks and then ran off, leavening Nanu behind. Nanu just gave a soft lopsided smile, knowing that the grunts would tell Guzma that he were back, and that a girl had tagged along. Shaking his head, he walked in the same direction as the grunts, thinking on getting home for the night, as well as making sure that the group of grunts didn’t get distracted and get busy doing something else unnecessary. The grunts were almost rioting as they continued over to Po Town, taking a different route around Luna and Gladion, not wanting to be seen. They all kept muttering that they had to tell Guzma, but didn’t know how to tell him, as well as it was getting rather late, and he liked his sleep. Getting through Route 12 wasn’t to tricky, other than that it was a bit of a bumpy walk, climbing rocks and getting over a few difficult roads before getting to Tapu Village. Luna had a few slips on the way, while Gladion helped her to the best of his ability. Getting off the route, they were eventually in Tapu Village, and Gladion were a bit surprised, seeing new houses around. He had been gone for a year, as well as the village were under construction when he left, so the surprise weren’t that big for him.

Arriving to his house, Gladion got up to the front door and started to dig through his bag for the keys. Luna stood a little behind, looking at the place, which was bigger than she expected, considering that he had been living alone for years before even thinking on going to Kanto. As he found the keys, unlocked the door and opened it. Taking a look behind him, he saw Luna standing in front of his place, just looking up at it.

«Something wrong?»

Luna shaked her head. «No...Just surprised.»

«Oh?...Why is that?...» he questioned her.

«I just thought that your place would be smaller…» she said, followed by a nervous chuckle.

Gladion gave lopsided, but embarrassed smile to her. «It’s a bit on the big side...» he muttered, looking away from her.

Luna walked up to him, giggling softly at the embarrassed expression he made. «I just didn’t expect it.» she replied softly.

He nodded and hummed softly. He cleared his throat and stepped to the side of the door, gesturing for her to walk inside first, giving her a soft smirk. «Ladies first~.» he murmured.

Luna giggled softly. «Thank you~.» she replied and walked in. «Such a gentleman.» she added softly.

Standing in the hallway, she looked around a little as she took off her back and placed it against the wall, putting it somewhat out of the way. Gladion walked in and locked the door behind him, taking his bag off and placed it beside hers before embracing her from behind, placing a soft kiss on her neck. She yelped lightly as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and planted a soft kiss on her neck, but the small scare were quickly replaced with a soft smile, followed by a soft, timid giggle.

«Gentleman on the streets, senpai in the sheets…~» she said, clearly being sarcastic.

«If that means what i think it does...then yes.» he replied, picking her up while giving her a mischievous smirk. She chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he carried her, finding their way to the bedroom that haven’t been slept in or changed for over a year. He placed her on the bed, and the dust just flew up like a cloud around them, taking them both by surprise.

«Pardon all the dust around the place...Haven’t had the time.» he muttered in embarrassment, and slightly joking about it, as they had recently arrived.

«We can deal with most of that tomorrow.» she said, placing her hands on his cheeks.

She pulled him towards her, placing her lips softly on his, sharing a few tender kisses before parting. Getting up from the bed, they found their sides and quickly ‘dusted’ off the bed. As that was done, they stripped down from their clothes and got in under the covers, only for Gladion to pull her close and lean over her, locking their lips again, roughly. Moving on top of her, he made short work of the garment she were wearing, getting it off her quickly and tossing it to the side before he placed his lips on her neck, trailing down her. Heavy breaths and her soft moans were slowly filling the room as he kept working her up. Feeling incredibly needy, he quickly got his boxers off, finding some protection and put it on before guiding himself into her with a quick thrust, making her yelp out a moan. Leaning down to her, he locked their lips again, he started to thrust into her at a steady pace. Luna wrapped her arms around him, lightly scratching up his back for each sensitive spot he hit in her. Feeling that she were getting close to the end of her run already, he slowed down, dragging it out more. Feeling her inner walls spasming around his member made short work on him as well, letting out a soft groan, as well Luna arched her back, digging her nails into his skin, giving off a loud moan as she got to the end of her run. Calming down slightly from the intense feeling of pleasure, he leaned down, placing his lips on hers, sharing a few gentle and tender kisses before he put his weight on her. Laying on top of her, he found her hands and intertwined their fingers as he pulled them up above her head, giving her a soft smirk.

After calming down, he pulled out and rolled off her, quickly removing the protection and placed it on the floor beside the bed. As quickly he did that, he looked over at her and pulled her close, making her slightly lay on top of him. Just holding her close, he could slightly feel the stinging pain from her digging her nails into his skin, though, he didn’t care. She got herself comfortable, snuggling up to him and pulled the covers up before she closed her eyes. It’s been a long day, as well as sitting on a ferry for hours didn’t help on getting awake. He gave her a light peck on her forehead as she drifted off to sleep. Looking out of the window, where he had forgotten to put the curtains over, he looked up at the sky, seeing the stars and the moon in the distance, hidden by the wall, but the light were shining through, lighting up the room slightly.

A whole year in Kanto had already passed, and he were now back in Alola. He left out of frustration and loneliness, sure that he wouldn’t find anything to ease it, yet, here he was, feeling quite different than from when he left. Feeling more at ease, and the biggest surprise were that he actually had gotten himself a girl. Looking down at her, he couldn’t help but to smile softly, feeling his heart flutter. He knew it would be a shock to his family, and everyone else he knew in Alola and didn’t really want to deal with it, but knew he had to at some point anyway, just not right now. He slightly turned towards her, wrapping his other arm around her, while sliding the other under the pillow, getting more comfortable as he let out a content sigh. Feeling his eyes start to get heavy while looking outside of the window, he closed them and slowly drifted off to sleep, never been feeling as content as he did at this moment.


	28. Party

Gladion woke up the next morning by some loud banging on the front door, as well as someone calling names at him. Groaning lightly he ran his hand over his face, sighing loudly in frustration. He sat up, and looked over at Luna quickly, who didn’t budge from the loud banging. He got out of the bed and quickly grabbed his pants, putting them on in a hurry as he walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him before lightly stomping his way to the front.

«Yo! Mini edge! I know you are in there! My folks saw you yesterday!» Guzma shouted, still banging on the door.

Gladion rolled his eyes and sighed. And were about to turn around before Guzma added that if he didn’t open the door, he would burn the place down. As Guzma said that, a crowd rioted and cheered behind him. Gladion grabbed the door handle and swung the door open as Guzma were to bang on the door again, stopping wid way as not to hit Gladion.

«Don’t you even dare...» he growled.

Guzma just looked at him with big eyes, and noticed the massive scar across his chest. «How the fuck did you get that?» he asked and pointed.

«None of your business...Why are you here though?» he hissed, crossing his arms and leaned up against the doorframe.

Guzma gave a half hearted chuckle. «Like i said...My boys saw you yesterday, and i had to check it out for myself...» he said and looked over his shoulder, looking behind him, searching for something.

He sighed. «Right...» he muttered, and looked that he were looking behind him for something. «And what are you looking for?»

«A girl.» he said, giving him a mischievous grin.

«Goodbye...» he hissed, turned around and walked in, closing the door in front of his face.

The group behind him gasped in horror, while Guzma just started to laugh loudly. «See ya later, mini edge~.» he said, and walked down the porch stairs, waving for his group to get going. «You better take care of those  _ scratches _ .» he added in a teasing tone.

Locking the door, he became beet red and groaned again, starting to walk back to the bedroom, thinking on relaxing a little more. Opening the door to the bedroom, he looked straight ahead, and out of the window. In the window stood Guzma and a few others, looking inside and over at Luna, who were still sleeping. Looking over at Gladion, Guzma just gave him a teasing smile, wiggling his eyebrows at him.He panicked and hurried over, pulling the curtains over, hearing snickering on the other side. Growling to himself, he made a mental note to kick Guzma’s ass later when he found him. Standing in front of the window in silence, he could hear them still snicker as they all walked off, as their footsteps disappeared into the distance.

_ Great...Now the entire region will know… _

Letting out another groan, he turned and looked over at her. She kept on sleeping peacefully, and didn’t want to disturb her by getting under the covers again. He grabbed his clothes and walked out, leaving her be until she woke up later. In the meanwhile, he got into the bathroom across the corridor, deciding to take a quick shower. Finishing showering, he got dressed and walked out to the kitchen, thinking about getting something to eat, only to remember that the stuff in the fridge is old and most likely moldy. He found a bag and hesitated before opening the fridge, getting thrown back by the awful stench.

«Ugh...Fucking hell...» he muttered and got out everything, putting it in the bag and hurried to get it outside, not wanting to fill the entire place in that smell.

Passing the dining table in the kitchen, he noticed a small envelope laying there. Taking a few steps back, he picked it up and looked at the writing on the front. Narrowing his eyes, as the writing was definitely Lillie’s. He opened it and took out what was on the inside, which were a card. A wedding invitation. His eyes got wide as he looked at the invitation, but there was another note attached, so he read the few lines there first, bracing himself.

_ Hi, brother.  _

_ I don’t know if you’ll ever see this, but here goes! _ _   
_ _ The day, or rather, the day after you left. Hau proposed! Yay~! _ _   
_ _ Anyway...Whenever you read this, i hope you had a great time. By you do, i might already be married, or have been for a few months...maybe even a year. Who knows? Also...The thing i said about you leaving to a different region were meant as a joke...Sorry you took it seriously.  _ _   
_ _ And here’s an invitation, just in case~. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Love _ _   
_ __ Lillie.

Gladion just shaked his head, but smiled softly, as he already had a feeling that Hau were to propose that day, as he had a few words with Lusamine a couple of days prior. Putting the note down, he looked at the invitation before looking over at the calendar that were on the wall, that were rather old, but should give him an exact date of what day it was. Looking down at the invitation again, he panicked.

«Fuck! It’s today!?»

Luna woke up by him shouting it, stretching herself a little before she sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes gently. «Gladion…?» she muttered, looking at the door a little. Hearing him pace around, she yawned and got out of the bed, and found the garment of hers, putting it on.

She walked out and found him pacing in the kitchen, looking panicked. She muttered his name, which made him flinch and abruptly look over at her, looking rather panicked. She asked if everything were okay, which he didn’t really know how to reply, other than to just groan lightly. Collecting himself a little, inhaling deeply before letting it out with a deep sigh.

«My sister i getting married...» he started, but paused.

«That’s great news! Why are you panicking though?» she asked, tilting her head.

«It’s today...» he added, sitting down on a chair.

«Oh...» she muttered in a hushed voice. Seeing the card, she walked over to him and picked it up, looking at it. She took a quick look at the clock in the room, and asked if they had day savings time in Alola, which he nodded at. «Well...You can make it to the party after the ceremony.» she said, looking at the card and being fascinated by the beautiful handwriting.

«Yeah...» he muttered, running his hands through his hair.

He got up from the chair, and walked off in a hurry, grabbing the bag from the travel and took it with him into the bedroom. As he started to look for his suit, which he knew were stored somewhere, there was a knock on the door. Luna didn’t do much, but Gladion walked out, and over to the front door, being sure it was Guzma again. He unlocked it and swung the door open, ready to snarl, but met the emotionless face of Nanu.

«I guess you should hurry over to your sister’s wedding party before it’s to late.» he said and turned around, walking down the stairs. «Oh..:And do bring your girlfriend before Guzma tells everyone.» he added and walked off.

Gladion just stood there, looking rather dumbfounded before closing the door. He stood there, thinking of what Nanu just told him. «Right...» he muttered.

Luna walked over to the kitchen door, looking over at Gladion who sighed and shook his head lightly. «Something wrong?»

«You are tagging along.» he added and passed her.

«W-what…?» she stuttered. «I don’t even know anyone...» she added, looking at him.

«Time to get to know someone then.» he added, it coming out a bit to snarky than he intended to as he walked into the bedroom again, going through the closet again for his suit, growling and generally slightly panicking.

Luna couldn’t really process it properly as she got her bag, and got into the bathroom, which she found quickly since the door were wide open after he had been there. She got in and hurried to take a quick shower, and as she showered, she started to panic. She finished the shower and got on some undergarments, but didn’t have anything close to festive clothes, so she just had to take whatever she had and make it work. Gladion eventually found his suit and got it out. It had been stored away nicely, so it wasn’t to bad looking, as well as the shirt weren’t to wrinkled, at least it couldn’t be seen that clarely with the waist coat on. Getting dressed rather quickly, he couldn’t help but to panic more as Luna were still in the bathroom. While tying the tie, Luna got out and walked into the bedroom, finding Gladion finishing the tie and buttoning up the waist coat. He looked over at her, and almost lost his jaw. She were wearing a strapless, cocktail dress, the skirt ending under her knees. It was a white dress, with a red front, followed by a dark blue, sash-like cloth coming from it, and a black belt that were covering her waist, keeping the ‘sash’ on place. She had put her hair up on a high ponytail, with a Kantonese accessory that were the same color as the dress she were wearing.

She put the bag down to the side and blushed. «Is it bad…? I don’t really have anything else...» she muttered timidly.

Gladion just shaked his head, staring quite wide eyed at her. She blushed even more and muttered for him to stop staring at her as she started to play with the dark blue ‘sash’ on it. «I’m just surprised that...» he started, pointing over at the usual outfit she would be wearing. «That you ain’t wearing that...»

«That’s more of a casual outfit...» she muttered.

He finished buttoning up the waist coat and walked over to her, lifting up her chin to him. «Sorry for staring...» he started, making her look up at him. «...You look stunning.» he murmured. She were as red as she could get, but smiled sweetly at him as he placed a tender kiss on her lips.

After a few more minutes, they were as ready as they could get. Gladion grabbed the invitation, just in case it was needed to get into the venue the party were going to be held at. He were still quite panicked as he locked the door, and started to find their way over to Malie, getting a ferry over to Akala Island, where the venue were at, it being in a massive ballroom at Hano Grand. Getting to Malie were easier, now that they both could see where they actually were going without stepping on something that would make anyone end up on their butt. Once in Malie, people were staring as they all knew wery vell who Gladion was, but the surprise were Luna, who were tagging along. Gladion were quite uncomfortable being all dressed up, but he had to for once, as well as it was his sister’s wedding, even though it came as a shock that it was today. Getting into the terminal, Gladion got two tickets over to Akala Island, and quickly boarded the ferry. Once the ferry left the docks, Luna got increasingly nervous again, twinning thumbs as she sat there, looking outside of the window, watching the island get smaller, and another approaching.

It luckily didn’t take too long to get over to Akala Island, as the sea were calm and there wasn’t much traffic from the other islands either. Gladion were slowly calming down, looking around the ferry at the few people there. Luna reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers out of nervousness. Once the ferry got to the marine, they got out and started to walk over, Luna just following after Gladion, as she had never been around the region, but since they were in a slight hurry, she didn’t look around too much. Getting over to Hano Grand, they walked in and up to the reception, asking where they should be going to get to the party. The woman behind the desk asked a few questions and asked for the invitation before she guided them over to the ballroom. They stood outside of the room a little, at least Gladion did, taking a few inhales, preparing himself for questions and whatever that followed before he and Luna walked inside.

Straightening his jacket, he took a quick look inside the room. «I hate crowds...» he muttered in a whine-like tone.

Luna just gave a half hearted chuckle, and linked her arm with his. «We are already here, we can’t go back now.»

«I know...» he said shortly.

Seeing that Lillie and Hau were busy talking to someone, Gladion and Luna walked up towards them, hearing that Lillie were quite upset that Gladion wasn’t around, and couldn’t stress it enough for whoever she talked to. Hau just nodded and had a half hearted smile on him. As Gladion heard it, he just shaked his head.

«He’s still gone...and i even took the opportunity to give him an invitation...» she lightly hissed, giving off a small pout.

Gladion stopped behind her, and Luna let go of his arm as he leaned over her shoulder. «Oh, i’m sorry i’m late.» he just replied to her.

Lillie didn’t register that it was him and just answered. «You should be! It’s my big day!» she said and looked over her shoulder, seeing him for a brief second before looking in front of her again.

Lillie then froze on her spot, while Gladion nodded at what she said, just slightly rolling his eyes. She had did a double take, making sure that it was actually him and not her starting to hallucinate. Hau and Luna started to snicker, holding in the laughter. The others who she were talking to just smiled and took their leave as Lillie turned around and gasped loudly before she swung herself over him, forcing him into a hug.

«Oh my gosh! You are actually here!?» she exclaimed loudly, lightly jumping on the spot.

Gladion hugged her back. «Congrats, Lillie. Sorry we’re late.» he replied, giving Hau a glare while being in the hug. Hau just drew a cross across his chest, swallowing thickly while smiling sheepishly at him.

She let go of him and smiled widely and shaked her head. «That doesn't matter! What matters is that you are actually here!» she said, jumping on her spot in excitement before she registered that he said  _ ‘we’ _ and not  _ ‘i’ _ for a change. «We?» she muttered and looked up at him, utterly confused.

«Yeah.» he muttered. Gladion then placed his hand on Luna’s lower back, gently guiding her forward. «This is Luna, my...»

«Girlfriend!?» Lillie finished, gasping as she put her hands over her mouth in shock, staring at Luna with big eyes.

Luna bowed and smiled sweetly. «Pleased to meet you, and congratulation.» she said softly.

«...Yeah...» Gladion lightly muttered after Lillie finished the sentence for him.

Lillie offered a handshake, which Luna accepted. «I’m Lillie, Gladion’s younger sister...as he might have told already.» she said, smiling widely at her. «And thank you~.» she shortly added.

«Luna.» she muttered timidly.

Lusamine were sitting in her seat, seeing that Gladion were with a girl that were clearly not from Alola. Lillie then asked what clan she were from, being really curious. «It’s fine if you don’t want to answer, but i’m just really curious...You not being from Alola and all...» she said, smiling sheepishly.

«I shouldn’t really say what clan i’m from...» she muttered timidly.

«It was just a question, don’t worry about it….Anyway...Welcome to Alola!» she said and gave her a warm smile.

The rest of the party were long and tiresome, as well as Guzma and his folks came around, wanting to break the news that Gladion had a girlfriend, but once they saw him at a table in the distance in the room, he growled to himself and pursed his lips a little, giving off a sigh. With that, he just turned in the door, leaving the venue as he didn’t have anything else to do there. Lusamine kept looking at Luna throughout the rest of the evening, and could swear that she looked like someone she had seen on a photo, but couldn’t recall from where she had seen her. Lillie were overly excited that her brother now had a girlfriend and couldn’t stop asking Luna questions. Once everyone of the guests left, Lillie and Hau took their leave as well, beside Gladion and Luna, who stayed behind a little longer. Looking around the dark room, Gladion took a hold of her hand, and led her out to the floor, turning her towards him and placed his other hand on her waist, slowly moving across the floor.

«Why didn’t you ask for a dance earlier?» she asked, tilting her head a little to the side.

«No room to get in a word between you and Lillie...» he muttered. «As well as we are alone now...» he added softly.

Moving slowly across the floor, their cheeks lightly touching, and their bodies close. They moved across the floor for a while before he planted a tender kiss on her lips, thinking that they were all alone, as the room were dark. What they didn’t notice where that Lillie was watching, as she had forgotten something and just needed to get it before leaving. They didn’t hear her because she had taken off her heels, since they had started to kill her feet. Watching them, and were silently clapping and were happy for him, knowing that he had been fighting the loneliness for years.

_ For once i’m happy that you did take my joke seriously, brother... _


	29. Ride back Home

After the party, they got over to Heahea Marine, waiting on the ferry over to Ula’ula Island. While sitting inside of the terminal, waiting for the ferry to get over and ready to leave, a familiar face came over to them. Gladion just rolled his eyes, while Luna didn’t know how to react, other than to be confused and smile politely as the person sat down in front of them.

«You finally got yourself a gal, mini edge.»

«Get lost, Plumeria...» he lightly hissed. Luna just exchanged looks between them.

«Aww..Not introducing me to your gal? You know Guzma will visit until he gets a reply.» she said, smirking at him.

«Thanks for reminding me.» he growled and sighed softly. «This is Luna. Luna...This is Plumeria.» he said, introducing them as quickly as possible, wanting Plumeria to leave as quickly as possible.

«Pleasure.» she said quickly to her, giving her a nod as a greeting. Luna bowed lightly, giving a polite smile to her.

Plumeria knew he didn’t like to talk about ‘personal’ stuff like this, so she let it slide with that, excusing herself as she left the terminal. As she got out of the place, Gladion sighed deeply, hanging his head lightly. Luna gave a soft giggle, seeing him slightly defeated. It was pretty late, and they were most likely just going to sleep once back in Tapu Village. The ferry got there, and they all boarded it, finding a seat inside and waited until it were on it’s way over to Ula’ula again. Not finding any seats inside the ferry, they found some available seats outside. Before sitting down, Gladion took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders, knowing that the sea breeze could be cold, as well as she didn’t have a jacket with her. Feeling the warmth made her smile softly at him, which he just smiled softly back at her, a faint blush appearing.

«Thank you.» she muttered.

«Can’t have you catch a cold after we just got to Alola.» he replied, sitting down on the seat. Luna sat down beside him and nodded.

Looking out at the marine as the ferry started to leave, seeing people roam the streets, despite it being night. Sitting there, she took the accessory out of her hair, and let her hair down from the ponytail. Putting the accessory in her lap, she ran her fingers a little through her hair before taking a firm hold of the accessory again, leaning against him as the kept looking out at the sea, feeling the chilly sea breeze gently run over her bare skin. She looked over at him and asked if he wouldn’t get cold, to which he said that he wouldn’t, being quite used to the chilly nights of Alola. He sat back in the seat, crossing his arms and looked up in front of him. Luna just nodded and hummed softly in response, looking out in front of herself, both seeing the ocean being as still as it could get.

«What clan are you from again?» he asked, breaking the silence as well as he hoped that she finally would just tell him straight, despite, somewhat, have already figured it out.

«Crane.» she replied flatly, pulling some of her hair behind her ear.

Gladion just looked over at her with a mixed expression shock and surprise. «What…?» he muttered. He already knew, but the fact that she actually told him when he now asked baffled him.

She looked over at him and gave him a sweet smile. «I have never been hiding it. Just never said it.» she added. Gladion opened his mouth, about to say something, but nothing came out of him. She chuckled softly. «Crane got your tongue?» she asked, sticking out her tongue in a playful matter.

«I...uuh...I kinda already knew...I just needed to...» he started.

«...To confirm it?» she finished for him.

He just nodded. «Yeah...More or less.»

«Well...Now you know.» she added, looking out in front of her again.

He just kept looking at her, but thinking back, she never hid the fact that she was from that clan, other than not telling him straight out. Being quite surprised, he went through the old story from the books he had read, as well whatever Lillie had told him about it. The Crane clan had their village hidden in a forest of bamboo, which he had been at. A Crane would usually wear white, with other colors, mostly red, a dark blue, and black. Looking down at her, she were wearing those exact colors. The clan were known for their wind magic, and mostly for their healing magic, which were a dying art, being extremely rare, which was something she could do without any trouble. In rare cases, they could ascend their magic furter, usually sound, which she could do. Not without ending up not moving for a day or two, and even rarer, the highest wind magic there was; Gravity. As far as he knew, she had used it once, and ended up collapsing, being out for a week after that. It was also after that time he realized that she did mean more to him than just being an acquaintance, which he tried to deny for a while, at least until they were in the village around Mt. Moon, spending a few days there, when everything got a bit to real.

He kept narrowing his eyes at her while thinking and putting it all together. «A deal is a deal.» he muttered, making her look at him, noticing that he were looking at her with narrow eyes. «No turning back now.» he added shortly.

She just looked at him with a confused expression. «Huh?»

«That’s what you said back then...Whatever that means…?» he muttered, closing his eyes, trying to think of a logical explanation behind her words at the time.

«It’s just a tradition thing...I don’t even know why we keep saying it...» she muttered, not really wanting to give a proper answer to it.

«Oh, i don’t believe that. I know you know why you say it.» he said, leaning over to her. «And i’m curious as of why.» he added.

She puffed her cheeks. «Gladion...» she muttered.

«What? I want to know.» he said, and started to think a little about what he said. «Scratch that...I want to know everything...» he started, closing in to her. «...about you...» he finished, their lips almost touching.

«You are teasing me now...» she replied timidly.

«Don’t know what you are talking about.» he said, smirking.

She just looked unimpressed at him, and while still being as close, she gave him a light and quick peck on his lips, which took him off guard, his eyes getting wide as he just looked at her. She were now smirking and wiggling her eyebrows at him, which made him retract his lips, not sure what to do, but kept himself close. Licking his lips lightly, he could taste a faint sweetness from them, which were coming from her, since she had been eating something sweet at the party, and it was still lingering on her lips.

«To sweet for you?» she asked as she noticed he licked his lips, knowing why.

«Just perfect.» he murmured and locked their lips.

Sharing a few tender kisses before the ferry pulled up to Malie City. They got off and started to walk through the city, finding their way over to Route 11 and Route 12. Luna sighed softly, knowing that Route 12 were quite the rowdy one at night, but Gladion helped her to the best of his ability, and they eventually got over to the caravan area. Walking through there, they saw Tapu Village in the distance, as well as the roof of the house. Walking over, Gladion found the keys and unlocked the door, both getting in as she closed it and locked it again. Taking off their shoes, Gladion undid the waist coat and tie, giving off a soft sigh. Luna took of his jacket, holding it close as they both found their way to the bedroom, wanting to get to sleep as quickly as possible, being quite exhausted from the event earlier and all the people, especially Luna, had to talk to beside Lillie.

Luna placed her hair accessory on the nightstand beside the bed, putting his jacket on the bed as he got the waist coat and tie off, starting to strip off the shirt. Luna got out of the dress quickly, putting it on a chair to the side before she crawled into the bed and under the covers, sitting there, watching Gladion get out of his fancy clothes, nicely hanging them up in the closet again. As the shirt got off, she could see the scratch marks she had given him the night prior on his back. She pulled the bed sheet over her face, blushing madly. Gladion looked around for the jacket, finding on the foot of the bed and quickly took it, looking over at Luna, who were hiding behind the bed sheet. He could hear her mutter, quite silently ‘sorry’, to which he understood quickly. Putting the suit into the closet, he closed it and got over to his designated side of the bed and got under the covers, leaning over to her.

«Why are you sorry?» he asked, knowing that she would get more flustered.

«Y-your back...» she muttered silently.

He just hummed softly. «And...why are you sorry?» he repeated softly. «It didn’t and does not hurt.» he added. She looked over the sheets at him, getting even more red as he knew what she were utterly embarrassed over. He placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. «You can scratch me all you want...» he murmured, which made her beet red, getting completely flustered and not sure what she would do, or reply. He just chuckled softly at her.

He laid down, and she followed shortly, after calming down a little. She turned around, having her back facing him as he scooted closer, wrapping his arm around her and pulled her close, softly nuzzling into her neck. Gladion gave a soft content sigh as he closed his eyes, trying to sleep. Luna were still very much awake, looking outside of the window, up at the night sky. Gladion fell asleep quickly, which Luna noticed as his breathing became soft and stable. She looked over her shoulder, seeing him all snuggled up to her which made her smile softly as she looked out of the window again. Feeling her eyes grow heavy, she fell asleep after a few minutes.

In Malie, Nanu were walking around as usual, just taking a look around the streets and the people that were still up and about. Getting over to the marine, he met Plumeria, who were getting out of the terminal, planning to get over to Po Town. Nanu greeted her and asked where she was off to, to which she quickly responded with ‘Po Town’. He gave a soft chuckle, adding that it was to make sure that Guzma didn’t burn down a house or anything else around the place. Watching Plumeria walk off after a little chat, Nanu directed his attention over to the terminal, watching more people get off and walk past him, heading towards the streets of Malie. There wasn’t to many, but he could definitely see unfamiliar faces in the small crowd, but he didn’t pay to much attention to it as he did an 180 turn, walking off.

«Uh...Excuse me, sir?»

Nanu stopped and looked behind him. He didn’t look to well at the young adult in front of him. «Yeah…?» he muttered, sounding really uninterested.

«I’m new around there, so...» he started, looking rather timid. «...I’m just looking for a place to stay...Can you point me in the right direction?»

«Sure...» he muttered and turned to face the main street of Malie. «There is a hostel at the end of the street, right beside the library. It’s easy to spot once there.» he said and pointed over and then started to walk off.

«Oh...Thank you. Sorry for troubling you.» he said and gave him a small wave and walked into the direction where Nanu pointed at.

As the young adult walked off, Nanu suddenly got a bad feeling about him and stopped, looking over his shoulder, watching him walk and disappear into the distance. He couldn’t see the face of the kid, but the feeling he gave were rather mischievous. He shrugged it off, thinking it was because it was late and he needed to get some shut eye. Groaning lightly, scratching the back of his neck, Nanu continued to walk off. The young adult kept walking over to the library, but had a rather mischievous smile plastered on his face, snickering lightly.

_ Good thing people in Alola is all about being nice and helpful... _


	30. Walked right into It

Instead of getting a room at the hostel, kid turned around, deciding to look around more, getting to know the streets while there wasn’t many people around. Walking around, he saw a few people heading home for the night, though, he didn’t, as he had a ‘mission’ on his mind, and needed to get it done. Turning a corner, the kid crashed into Guzma, who were wandering around aimlessly, being grumpy that Plumeria had told him to walk off the anger he were harboring within when she arrived earlier.

«Oof….I’m really sorry...» he muttered, looking up at the tall, and rather, scary looking guy.

«Watch were you are going, kid...» he hissed and passed him.

Watching Guzma walk off, there was something familiar with the attitude. «Excuse me!» he shouted after him.

Guzma abruptly turned around. «What!?» he snarled.

«Uum...Sorry, but...do you know anyone in Alola that is named...Gladion?» he asked.

«Gladion? You know the mini edge?» Guzma asked, sounding rather confused.

«Kinda...He taught me a valuable lesson back in Kanto...and i just want to repay that.» he added.

«Huh...Kid got a gal and a friend. I’m impressed...» Guzma muttered to himself. «Yeah, i do know the mini edge.» he hissed.

«Really? Splendid!» he said and clapped his hands together. «Do you know where i can find him?» he then asked.

«Who’s asking?» he hissed at him.

«Chad. Chad T. Wellington.» he replied, knowing that his name had no meaning in Alola.

«Right...Stupid name for a stupid kid...» he muttered, hissing it lightly.

Chad just frowned and narrowed his eyes, but quickly stopped, not wanting to create the wrong energy, as he needed to find him. «Soo…?»

«Route 11 and 12, and you’ll end up in Tapu Village. His place is there.» Guzma growled to him and walked off, not wanting to spend more time around him, unless the kid wanted a beating.

«Oh...Thank you!» he shouted after him.

With a mischievous grin across his face, he walked off, finding the path to Route 11 before heading to the hostel, getting a room for the night, as he would be taking on the routes when he woke up in the morning again. He kept the grin across his lips as he got into the room, going straight to bed as he needed to be fully rested when confronting the ‘mini edge’ as Guzma had called him. He couldn’t help but to chuckle at the nickname, which he found quite fitting for him as well.

_ Now i finally found you again, my dear Luna. _

**\----------**

The night went on quickly and on Melemele, Lillie were already up, being pumped as she had plans on going over to Gladion’s place, getting to know Luna more and give her ‘seal of approval’. Lillie quickly got dressed and wanted to leave as quickly as possible, but it was still early, and knowing what she was that night between the two, she knew they probably were still asleep. Hau groaned lightly as he sat up in the bed, looking at his newly made wife being all smiles.

Scratching the back of his head, he yawned loudly. «What’s on your mind, Lillie?» he asked in a husky voice.

«Oh, I just want to meet up with Luna again...She’s so nice~.» she exclaimed happily.

«Ooh...Well, you did have quite the long conversation yesterday. What did you talk about…?» he asked, yawning again.

«We talked about A LOT! It’s so fun to talk to someone who knows Kanto in and out!» he said, squealing lightly.

«Well...» he started, looking at the clock on his night stand. «It’s early...REALLY early...I suggest you wait for a while.» he added, giving her a soft smile.

«Oh, i know that. So i’m just going to make some breakfast, and...do something so the time would go by faster…?» she said, looking around while resting her index finger on her cheek. «You’ll join me visiting them later as well!»

Hau nodded. «I’ll just...snooze some more before that then...» he muttered and laid back down, letting another yawn escape him.

Lillie just shaked her head. «Alright.» she muttered silently, watching him go back to sleep.

Lillie slightly rolled her eyes and left the bedroom, waking down the stairs and over to the kitchen. She wasn’t the best cook, but she tired at least, and wanted to get better. For Hau. She had a personal goal on herself, which was to learn how to make malasadas, since that were his favourite food of all time. Some of the malasada shops in Alola had given her a recipe of each type, and given her instructions, as well as the place on Melemele had taught her once, letting her get to know how to do it at home. She rolled up her sleeves and dived in head first, thinking that if she got someone that were decent looking, Gladion and Luna would get some of them as well, and give her some feedback on how it was tasting. It being the early morning hours, she had a lot of time until most people woke up again, which made her more determined to make some of them.

As the hours passed, Luna and Gladion had been up for a while. Gladion left mostly right away to get groceries, as Luna ordered him to do it, which he did. Getting over to Malie and into the store, he didn’t know what to get, so he got whatever he found basic. Been living alone for years, he usually avoided making food for himself, unless he absolutely had to. While Gladion were gone, Luna got around and dusted off the place, using a soft wind spell, as not to break anything. As she went through one room at a time, she also noticed that the bedroom they used weren’t the master bedroom. Being sure that she wouldn’t get the bed up by herself, she left it alone until Gladion came back, continuing to clean one room at a time. As Gladion got done shopping, he got out of the store, while Lillie and Hau walked up to him.

«Hi, Gladion!» she exclaimed cheerfully, holding a bag with homemade malasadas. «Out shopping…?» she asked.

«Yeah…? We do need food, like most people.» he replied, rolling his eyes a little.

Hau chuckled softly, and Lillie just puffed her cheeks a little. «Whatever...» she hissed lightly. «I have made some homemade malasadas, so i want you and Luna to try them out!»

«To get food poisoning?» he muttered, starting to walk off.

Hau held in the laughter, while Lillie gasped. «I have gotten better! And Hau eats them anyway...so i can’t really rely on him anymore with taste testing them...»

«Hey! I love them...» Hau muttered, giving her a fake pout.

«I know you do, but you don’t give any good criticism.» she replied, patting his cheek softly.

«Whatever...» Gladion sighed, shaking his head a little.

Hau and Lillie followed after him back to Tapu Village, while chatting and talking, making him rather irritated as they just wouldn’t stop, and kept asking questions on how he met Luna. He ignored them to the best of his ability, all the way over to Tapu Village. Getting over to his place and inside, he was taken slightly aback. Luna had cleaned most of the place while he were gone, and were currently working on the master bedroom on the second floor, so she didn’t hear them arrive. Walking inside, he just looked around in awe, as his place haven’t been this clean in ages. Lillie and Hau were quite surprised themselves as they walked in, feeling and smelling the cleanliness of the place.

«I swear to god that you didn’t get her just because of  _ this _ .» Lillie pointed out, gesturing to how clean it was.

Quite insulted by it, he hissed at her. «You little...» he started, but Hau stepped between them before the regular sibling fight would start.

«Alright...Alright...It was sarcasm, Gladion... _ Sarcasm _ .» Hau said, giving him a nervous smile.

Gladion just looked over at him and scoffed and walked into the kitchen, starting to put the groceries away. Lillie and Hau walked in as well, taking a seat around the dining table in the kitchen. Hau gave a soft sigh as he sat down, and Lillie found the homemade malasadas and put them out on the table. As Gladion got the groceries out and placed around the kitchen, he walked off, looking for Luna. Looking around at the first floor, he didn’t find her, so he walked up the stairs, even more surprised that she even were cleaning up here, considering that it was covered in dirt and dust from years.

«Luna?» he called out for her, walking around until he finally found her, sweeping the floor at the master bedroom. «You actually got around the entire place?»

She didn’t hear him the first time, so when he asked her, she flinched and yelped lightly, abruptly turning around towards him. Gladion just looked at her as he scared her. «Gladion...oh my god...» she muttered, placing a hand over her heart, taking a deep breath.

«Sorry i scared you.» he said, followed by a soft chuckle.

She held the mop tightly, giving off another soft sigh. «I have, dusting and then cleaning one room at a time.» she said, looking around rather proudly. «It sure was needed.» she added.

«That i do know...» he muttered in embarrassment. «Lillie and Hau is here as well.» he added shortly.

«Oh? Met them at...uh...Malie?» she asked, unsure of the name of the city.

«Yeah, Malie. They are downstairs, and Lillie wants us to try her homemade malasadas.» he added, looking around.

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «Do you think we can get the bed up here? Considering that this is the master bedroom.» she asked.

«You don’t like living in the closet?» he asked, smirking.

Luna looked horrifying at him. «What…? That’s a closet!?»

«Nope...» he replied quickly and turned around. «I’ll ask Hau if he cares to help moving the bed...» he added and walked out. Luna just glared at him as he left the room, and Gladion could feel it, making him slightly uncomfortable.

He didn’t want to fight her, at least not after the glare she gave him as he left the room, heading back downstairs. Getting over to the kitchen again, Hau and Lillie were chatting as usual, and Hau, pr usual, were stuffing his face with a malasada. Hau and Lillie looked at him, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, shaking his head.

«What?» Hau asked, his voice muffled as his mouth were full. Lillie just smiled sweetly.

«You never stop eating, do you?» Gladion asked, looking at him with a slight expression of disgust.

«I just...love food.» he muttered.

«I know that already...ugh...» he sighed. «Do you care to help? Luna wants the bed upstairs.» he asked.

Hau swallowed and nodded. «Sure, i don’t mind.» he replied. «I’ll just...finish eating...» he added, a faint blush on his cheeks as he smiled. Gladion just nodded, rolling his eyes internally.

Once Hau finished, he got up, and the two started to take apart the furniture, making it easier to get it up the stairs. Luna finished washing the room and got downstairs, meeting Lillie in the kitchen, looking around. She flinched a little when Luna greeted her, listening to Hau and Gladion take apart the bed in the room a few doors down the corridor. Luna sat down after placing the mop away and washing her hands, and Lillie offered her a malasada, stressing it to her that it was homemade. Luna nodded and took one, taking a bite. She had never had one before, so she didn’t know what to expect, other than it might taste bread like, considering it was looking like fried bread. As Luna took a bite, Lillie were watching her closely, to see if there was a reaction she had never seen before. Hau and Gladion kept working on getting the bed up to the second floor, both sounding stressed when they started on the mattress, dragging it up the stairs.

Lillie giggled softly, while Luna did as well, holding a hand in front of her mouth while chewing. Lillie shifted her attention over to Luna again. «How is it?» she asked.

«It’s rather sweet...I’m not sure how they should taste either...» she replied, giving her a lopsided smile.

«Oh? You haven’t had a malasada yet?» Lillie asked her in surprise. Luna just nodded. «How is it though?»

«Good i guess...Rather sweet.» she repeated.

Luna kept eating it, and eventually Gladion and Hau joined the girls in the kitchen again, being done with getting the bed up to the second floor and putting it back together. Them both sitting down, and Hau getting another malasada, while looking over at Lillie, who kept smiling softly. Gladion looked over at Luna, who were eating one. She looked rather suspicious off of it, but kept eating it.

«Not your thing?» he asked her.

Luna looked over at him, and just gave him a sweet smile. «I don’t know...My first time having a malasada...» she muttered softly.

Gladion just nodded, watching her keep eating it slowly, not really to fond of it, but kept on going since Lillie had made them, and she didn’t want to be rude. Gladion looked over at the homemade ones and didn’t really bother to get one, being quite tired of the food item in general. Luckily, Lillie didn’t notice that he didn’t take one, as she were to busy watching Hau and Luna eat theirs. After Luna finished, she didn’t take another one, as Hau were all over them. They ended up chatting for a while, at least until Lillie figured that they needed to get back to Melemele Island, as Lusamine would be paying them a visit, which Lillie didn’t know why. Hau just shrugged, not paying any attention to it, as Lusamine were usually quite nice, at least whenever he were around, which Lillie kept pointing out, and she didn’t like it. Luna haven’t had the biggest conversation with her, but had a brief conversation, and she came off to Luna as quite the arrogant woman, though, she didn’t say that to anyone, thinking it might be because of the stress from the entire wedding.

After a while, Lillie and Hau left and Gladion let out a loud sigh, to which Luna just giggled softly at. «Not to found of having them over?»

«It’s not that...I don’t really mind, it’s just that Lillie just can’t stop talking when she first starts.» he replied, running his hand over his face, letting out a light groan. «Anyway...Bed is up and all.» he added.

«Thank you~.» she softly replied, giving him a sweet smile.

He leaned over to her, reaching for her chin, making her face him as he placed a tender kiss on her lips. «Thanks for cleaning the entire place...You didn’t really have to though.» he said.

«It was on my agenda anyway, and knowing that you have been in Kanto for a year, it was needed.» she replied softly. She got up from the chair and decided to take a look at the groceries that he got earlier, planning what she could make for dinner later.

While she were looking in the fridge, planning the future dinner, Gladion walked up to her, closing the fridge door. He placed his hands on her hips, giving her a soft kiss on her shoulder. «Care to _try_ _out_ the new room?» he murmured.

She blushed, and sighed silently. She didn’t really know how to reply either. «Doesn't sound like a bad idea~.» she replied, hoping that he was joking.

Gladion clearly wasn’t joking when he picked her up, making her yelp lightly as he got her. He chuckled softly, giving her a smirk as he carried her up. «You went right into that.» he murmured, placing her on the edge of the bed.

«Seems like i did...» she murmured back before he locked his lips with hers.


	31. Trying the new Room

Breaking from the kiss, he traveled down her neck, brushing his lips softly across her skin. One of his hands placed on her thigh, slowly feeling her up, sliding up under the skirt of the summer dress she was wearing. His hot breath sensually tickling her skin as he kept brushing his lips gently on her skin, nibbling softly. Luna’s breathing were starting to get heavy, slowly, as he worked on her gently. He stopped doing what he was doing, and with a swift movement, he turned her around, making her lay on her front as he hunched over her, his crotch pressed against her rear. She yelped in surprise as he did, leaning over her again, gently moving her hair away as he placed his lips on the base of her neck. Gently brushing his lips on her skin from her neck, over to her shoulder, he took a grip of the strap on the summer dress of hers, pulling it down with his teeth, while removing the other with his hand, getting free passage to her neck and shoulder area.

«It’s still daytime, Gladion...» she muttered softly, her breath sounding rather heavy.

«Don’t care...» he murmured.

He placed his hand on her thigh again, lightly groping her as he slid his hand under the skirt part again, trailing up to her cheek, groping roughly. She gave a soft squeal, which made him smirk softly, lifting up the skirt more, revealing her rear. Running his lips gently across her skin, trailing down to her back as he started to tug lightly on her undergarment. Feeling his pants getting on the tight side, he undid his pants, letting out a soft huff as the pressure got slightly released. Crawling over her, putting his weight on her as he reached around her, cupping her breasts as he pushed her bra up. Luna were now so worked up, that she didn’t know what to do with herself and started to get a little huffy, puffing her cheeks out slightly. Gladion noticed and stopped, asking what was wrong, and if it was his fault, sounding quite worried. She just lightly hissed for him to get off of her, which he did, quite sure that he did something. He got off, and started to get quite huffy himself, being quite aroused. He got quite surprised when she got up and grabbed his collar, only to pull him over to the bed, making him sit down on the edge as she got onto his lap.

«You take to long sometimes...» she murmured.

His surprised expression quickly turned into a smirk. «Oh, i’m sorry...Thought you liked it like that...» he murmured back.

«Most of the time...» she murmured.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, locking their lips roughly, their tongues gently wrestling and dancing with each other. He slipped his hands under her skirt and under her garment, roughly groping her rear. She gently leaned more onto him, pushing him down onto the bed while their lips were still locked and busy with each other, letting her hand undo the shirt of his, traveling down his torso, feeling him down to his member, gently running her hand over his skin. Soft and silent moans escaping them both between the heavy make out, Gladion letting out a soft huff as her hand slid under his boxers, rubbing his length, feeling him grow even more under her touch. Keeping his hands on her rear, he slipped her undergarment down, groping her more firmly. Breaking the heavy lip wrestling, she got up and moved down on him, getting her undergarment off before she swiftly got his pants and boxers off, revealing his aroused member. Gladion were slightly sitting up, looking down at her, watching her every move. She got down on her knees and pulled her hair slightly away before gently wrapping her lips around his length, letting her tongue lightly circle around him. His breath were heavy, and were cracking lightly as she started to move her head on him, letting soft, silent moans escape from him.

He placed his hand on her head, pushing away her bangs and took a firm grip. He didn’t make her speed up the pace, as what she already was doing were quite pleasant as is. Her lips wrapped around, and her tongue working it’s magic on him were almost to much, feeling his member lightly throb, which she also noticed and stopped, pulling him out of her mouth, licking her lips while giving him quite the seductive look. He let go of her hair, breathing heavily as she reached for the drawer on the nightstand, finding herself some protection before going any further. She opened the package and got the rubber out, gently sliding it over his member before she dropped the summer dress, letting it drop to the floor before she crawled over on top of him. He put a hand on her thigh as she guided him into her, making him let out a soft huff as he felt her warmth envelop him tightly. She huffed lightly as she started to grind her hips on his, one of her hands placed on his lower abdomen for balance, and the other on top of his hand. She completely lost her tough and seductive facade once she started to grind, her breath getting ragged, as well as soft moans starting to escape from her lips.

She set herself a slow pace, though, Gladion had other things on his mind as he let go of her thigh and reached her rear, groping roughly as he started to buck his hips up towards her, making her jolt up slightly on him, speeding up the pace. Thrusting into her, he moved his hands to her hips for a better grip on her. She placed both of her hands on his lower abdomen, keeping herself steady as he kept pounding up into her. Heavy moans were getting more frequent on both of their part, their ragged breaths cracking lightly.

«Fuck...» he huffed lightly between the soft moans.

Her inner walls were starting to spasm around him, getting tighter for every thrust he got into her, and her moans started to get more frequent and louder. She started to feel herself tense up, the feeling of intense pleasure slowly creeping up her back, her back slowly starting to arch back. She abruptly jolted back, her inner walls getting tight around his length, sending them both over the edge. He pulled her down onto him as he bucked his hips up towards her, giving of a soft moan as they both reached the end of their run, panting heavily. He let go of her hips, gently running a hand over her thigh softly while he ran his other hand over his forehead, pushing his bangs away and wiping the sweat that had been worked up.

He sat himself up, locking their lips passionately, their tongues gently dancing with each other. Luna wrapped her arms around his neck, while he put his on her waist, pulling her down with him as they laid down onto the bed, Luna resting her weight on him, as he softly ran his hands up and down her back. The heavy kissing broke, them both breathing rather heavily.

«That...was amazing...» he muttered softly between the heavy breaths that were taken.

She gave a soft chuckle. «Yeah...» he muttered softly between her heavy breaths.

Gladion closed his eyes, letting out a content groan. Luna started to gently run her fingers on his jawline, which made him smile softly, her gentle touch, as always, doing wonders on him. She closed the distance between their lips, placing hers on his softly, giving him a tender kiss, which he quickly returned. Laying like that for a few more minutes before she made him pull out, crawling off of him and put on the summer dress, as well as getting on her undergarments again. Gladion got the rubber off and put on his boxers and pants again, adjusting his member slightly before getting the shirt on again as well. Luna walked into the master bathroom, washing her face and hands before walking out again, putting her hair up in a ponytail, muttering that she would be starting on making some food of whatever he got earlier. Gladion just hummed softly, nodding and watched her leave the bedroom.

He tossed the rubber in the bin and quickly washed his face and hands as well before heading downstairs, heading over to the kitchen. He looked in, seeing Luna starting on something. Leaning against the doorframe, he kept watching her for a while, his expression being unusually soft for being him. He was just taking in her being without knowing, just looking at her.

«You not going to help?» she asked, knowing that he were standing behind her.

«Not sure how i can help...other than being in the way and a nuisance.» he replied.

«Shush on you...» she said, looking over her shoulder, meeting his eyes that were looking directly into hers. She just gave him a soft smile. «Come on.» she added.

Gladion walked over and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her instead, looking down at what she were chopping up for a little before giving her a soft kiss on her shoulder. She sighed softly. «I told you i’ll be a nuisance.» he said, placing his lips on her shoulder again, lightly sucking on her skin.

«You are a nuisance right now, Gladion.» she muttered.

He stopped sucking lightly on her skin, looking at the spot and the mark he made on her before giving her a soft kiss on the place, smirking. «Perfect.» he murmured. Luna just rolled her eyes, giving off a soft sigh.

He did eventually start helping her for real, instead of being somewhat clingy and annoying to her, nuzzling into her neck while she was chopping some of the vegetables. She were holding a massive knife, so he didn’t want to take any more chances of pissing her off, as he might as well lose a limb or something if he kept going. She had started on a simple Kantonese dish that apparently contained a good portion of the vegetables he bought.

«What are you actually making…?» he asked, looking at the chopped up vegetables.

«Yasai Itame.» she replied.

Finishing chopping the vegetables, she looked over at the preheated pan she had found in one of the drawers, making sure the oil she used were doing it’s thing before she put the vegetables in. She added the ‘heavy’ vegetables first, letting them fry up a little before adding the other ‘lighter’ ones. Gladion just stood beside her, watching. He couldn’t help to start wonder how she knew how to cook, knowing that she had been traveling around Kanto and Johto for years, without a place to get back to whenever. Of course, she had her grandparents home, but as she had told him, the relationship wasn’t the best. While she were doing that, she started to hum softly, which was something new for him, as he had never heard her do that. Luna didn’t notice that she started to hum, as it was a habit she had made herself whenever she were doing chores or anything else that she needed to concentrate on.

He stepped back, watching her as a knock on the door were heard. She looked over her shoulder, exchanging looks with him as she looked rather confused, knowing that it couldn’t be Lillie and Hau again. Watching him walk off to the front door, he opened it and found nothing, only hearing a few giggles in the distance. Knowing what it was about, he closed the door again, not paying any more attention to it. Luna finished making the dish and plated it, putting the plates on the table with cutlery. Gladion walked in, and as he got into the kitchen again, another knock were heard.

He sighed and looked at her. «Do you mind checking that out for me…?» he muttered. «I’m sure they won’t stop unless someone else beside me opens the door now.» he added.

Luna didn’t really get why, but she nodded and obliged. Gladion sat down at the table, looking at the dish she had made, while she opened the door, and took a look around the front porch, not seeing anyone, though, she could hear a light gasp in the distance. She kept the door open. «No one here…? How come?» she asked, taking another look before closing it.

Gladion shaked his head as she walked in again. «Just some from Malie that kept doing that for years. I don’t know why, but hopefully they’ll stop...» he lightly hissed.

Luna sat down opposite him, tilting her head. «Okay...» she replied, being slightly confused.

«Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing major, other than it being annoying.» he replied, taking the cutlery on hand and took a bite of the dish. «What did you call this dish again?» he asked.

«Yasai Itame.» she replied, giving him a sweet smile.

«Which means…?»

«Stir fry vegetables.» she quickly replied to him, taking a bite of it.

«I should have guessed...» he muttered, thinking back at how she made it, which was pretty straight forward. She just gave a soft giggle.

Finishing eating after a few minutes, Gladion decided to take a walk, as well as Luna wanted to tag along, looking around. He didn’t mind showing her around, as well as he would prefer that, knowing that people in Alola would start to ask new people questions to the point of making anyone uncomfortable. Putting the dishes in the sink for later, they got their shoes on and headed out, taking it rather slow on the way over to Malie City. The people who knocked on his door a bit earlier were following them slightly, being curious of who this new girl was. It was the same group of girls that had been pestering him for years, but now they were utterly shocked, and didn’t know what to make out of the situation, other than to follow after them a few feet away over to Malie, wanting to get a better look at the new girl in the region.


	32. Not an adult Yet

Two months had passed since Lillie and Haus wedding, and after that, Lillie had been frequently been visiting Luna, wanting to get to know her more, as well as dragging her with her to Malie City, doing some shopping. Lillie kept being quite excited, and for Luna, it was quite the tiresome as she wasn’t the most exciting person in the world. She did cope with it to the best of her ability though, not having the heart to tell her off or that she was tired. This day, Lillie had dragged Luna with her to Malie City, doing some shopping. Hau and Gladion were just tagging along, not being impressed and generally feeling bad for Luna, as she looked a bit distressed being dragged around by Lillie. Lillie didn’t mind spending money on her, knowing that their family were quite the wealthy one, which was something Luna found out after a month in Alola, and questioned Gladion about it, as well as why he didn’t say anything about it. He just replied with that it was just money, and that it wasn’t important.

_ Wealth can’t buy happiness... _

Luna was taken aback by his reply, but understood what he said and couldn’t help but to smile sweetly at him. Her smile just made him blush, knowing that he said that he haven’t been happier before she appeared in his life. Gladion and Hau were sitting at a cafè in Malie while Lillie dragged Luna with her to the closest clothing store, telling her that she needed some new clothes instead of wearing the same stuff day in and day out.

«You need some Alolan fashion!» she exclaimed, dragging her with her. Luna just sighed softly, not saying anything.

Getting into the store, Lillie went to work, finding clothes she thought would fit her. While the girls were out of their sight, Gladion and Hau got themselves something to drink. Hau not being a ‘grown up’ as Gladion put it, ordering the Pinap Juice, while he got the regular coffee. While sitting there, Guzma and Plumeria came wandering around the corner. Guzma grinned and walked over, while Plumeria just rolled her eyes and followed after him. As they got closer to them, they could hear Hau point out something that were rather true in Gladion’s case.

«Talking about being an adult...» Hau said, pointing at him. «You ain’t even married yet, Gladion.»

Gladion nearly spit out the coffee, choking a little on it. «I’m in no hurry...» he hissed, giving him a glare.

«I know that already.» Hau replied, sighing and slightly rolling his eyes at him.

Gladion looked over his shoulder, as well as Hau looked behind him, seeing and hearing Guzma laugh loudly as he approached them. Plumeria were trying her best to hide the fact that she found it funny. «Listen to that, mini edge! Malasada boy knows what’s he’s talking about!» he said and patted Gladion hard on his back, almost making him spill the coffee over himself.

Hau bursted out laughing himself as Guzma and Plumeria found each a chair, joining them at the table while cackling. Gladion just growled, taking a sip of his coffee. Hau, Guzma and Plumeria started to talk, and asking him about whatever since he and Lillie got married, as well as how Gladion were acting, now that his sister is all ‘grown up’. Hau said that things were as normal, and the only difference is that there was a ring on his and Lillie’s finger. Guzma sulked about it, and it was then Hau pointed it out to him as well.

«Speaking of being a ‘grown up’...Even you ain’t married yet, much less have a girlfriend.» Hau added, looking over at Plumeria. She just shaked her head and made it clear for him that she was no such thing, other than a friend to keep him away from most trouble.

Gladion chuckled, which made Guzma take him in a chokehold. «Don’t you dare laugh, mini edge!» he snarled at him.

«Look who’s talking!» Gladion snarled back at him.

Hau and Plumeria just looked at them, quite unimpressed, but they knew it was how they were acting around each other. With a sigh, Lillie and Luna eventually arrived, have been gone for two hours and figured that they needed a break until the next round, for Lillie that was. Lillie and Luna found Guzma holding Gladion in a chokehold, which freaking Luna out a little, looking at the two with big eyes and looking rather worried. Lillie made sure that it was normal for the two, which Plumeria heard and nodded at. Finding a chair each, they sat down themselves. Lillie placing herself beside Hau, which he just gave her a warm smile to as she did. Luna sat down between her and Gladion, looking at Gladion and Guzma do whatever they were doing. Gladion, as usual, kept hissing for him to let him go, to which Guzma kept holding him, laughing.

Guzma didn’t even notice that the girls had arrived, and when he looked around, seeing Lillie, then Luna he gasped, which made Gladion worried. «What?» Gladion asked.

Guzma looked down at Gladion again and grinned widely, using his index finger to circle around on the top of his head. «You are starting to get bald, mini edge.» he cackled to him.

Gladion got quite plane, silently freaking out, which Luna could see on him. Guzma did eventually let go of him, getting tired of holding him like that. Gladion quickly sat back in his chair, looking quite worried over at Luna, who just shaked her head, silently telling him that he was joking. Gladion sighed silently in relief, hanging his head lightly. No one else around the table did notice his slight panic, which was a good thing. The latest thing he wanted was to start balding while being in his early twenties. Listening to the rest talk and just not doing anything else, Gladion started to get rather annoyed that Guzma were there, as he wasn’t invited. Guzma did continue to call him ‘mini edge’, as he had been calling him that for years and had no intention to stop anytime soon. For each time he said the nickname, Gladion got more and more irritated. In an attempt to keep him calm, Luna reached for his hand that was resting on his lap. As she got a hold of his hand, he intertwined their fingers, rubbing his thumb gently over hers. It was quite visible that they were holding hands, but he couldn’t care less at the moment, as it was the only thing that kept him away from getting up and, most likely, punch Guzmas face in.

In the distance, Chad were lurking, being out of sight as he kept watching them, seemingly having fun. He didn’t care about the others other than Gladion and Luna, who were, for him, sitting to close, and they were holding hands, which irked him the wrong way, still having his mind set on Luna and that she was his only. Not wanting to get noticed, he retreated, going back to the hostel to his room, going over the plan on how he would get Luna. He had figured out where they lived, so he could do it at any time, but since Gladion were there almost all the time, he didn’t dare to make a move, not yet at least. He had met Guzma a couple of times, and he didn’t know if he had mentioned him to them, but could only hope that he didn’t, as it would make Gladion even more on edge and protective over her. Growling to himself, he hurried back to the hostel, as quietly and sneaky as possible.

After a while, Guzma and Plumeria left, as well as Lillie and Hau decided to leave, they all being out for most of the day, and Lillie didn’t want to tire out Luna more, as she were looking rather exhausted. Lillie pointed out that she did at least get a few new things, so she could change up her outfits instead of wearing the kimono of hers at all times. Luna were quite insulted by it, as it was her favourite outfit, but did also understand what she said, as she kept getting weird looks around the shopping street. Getting up from the chairs, and walking with Lillie and Hau over to the marine, they watched them get on the ferry and leave for Melemele Island. Guzma and Plumeria left for Hokulani Mountain, having heard that there was something interesting happening there. Watching the ferry disappear into the distance, Gladion looked over at her, holding a few shopping bags, knowing fully well that Lillie had forced a lot on her, and she hadn’t even been in Alola too long.

«You alright after running around with Lillie?» he asked, looking down at her. She just looked up at him like he had asked the dumbest question in the world. She clearly wasn’t impressed. «Sorry. Stupid question...» he muttered.

«Let’s just go home...My feet are killing me...» she muttered, followed by a sigh.

Gladion nodded. «Let’s get going then.»

They started to leave the marine, walking through the streets. Reaching the start of Route 11, they got stopped by Nanu, who were making his ‘daily’ rounds, as he liked to put it. Luna didn’t like him, as he creeped her out, but didn’t show it out of politeness, nor did she tell Gladion, feeling that it would offend him. Exchanging a few words, Nanu left quickly, and the two started taking on Route 11. While walking around, Luna stopped at a place where some bamboo sprouts had started to show, and dug some up, telling Gladion that they would do good in some dishes, and knowing that they were around, she didn’t hesitate to get a few small ones. Gladion just nodded, as she knew what she were doing when it came to food, being quite grateful for that. At least he didn’t have to eat out anymore, and he could happily point out that her cooking were better than Lillie’s. He didn’t say that out loud though.

Getting the sprouts, they continued over to Route 12, and eventually got to Tapu Village. They had been out most of the day, mostly because of Lillie, who didn’t have any sense of time when shopping. Getting over to their place, Gladion unlocked the door and let themselves in, Luna softly muttering that she would take a bath, being tired, as well as her feet were hurting from being all over Malie. Gladion nodded, and took the bamboo sprouts off her hands. She got the bamboo sprouts washed and put them in the fridge before heading up to the master bedroom, placing the shopping bags on the bed before she started to strip off the kimono, putting it on the bed, as she would put it away, for good. It had started to get heavy on her because of the warm weather in Alola, something she didn’t predict, considering that Kanto were a colder region in the first place. Getting into the master bathroom, she closed the door and put on the water, starting to fill the tub up. Gladion could hear it while he sat in the living room, reading a book about spells. After casting that one lighting spell months ago, the curiosity grew, making him wonder if he actually could get a hand on those next level spells. Already knowing that he probably will never use any or try any out, he could at least read up about it, getting to know the basics of doing such spells.

Thinking on how the next level magic worked on Luna, using a sound magic spell, which did drain her energy to the point of making her unable to move much, if any at all. Thinking back at that time, he regretted everything, and if he could go back in time, he would, punching himself for throwing her out, fully knowing what would happen later. Letting out a light groan while remembering it, he shaked his head, trying to refocus on the book and what was written on the pages. Upstairs, Luna had turned the water off, the tub being full. She put her hair up and got out of the ‘undergarment’, getting into the water. She gave a content sigh as she sunk into the hot water, feeling her fatigue slowly fade. Sitting in the tub, her knees close to her, she rested her head on them, looking around the bathroom, which was something she had done several times, but kept doing it, wondering if there would be something she had missed. She started to get drowsy while sitting there, and eventually snoozed off.

She slept for a while, only to be met with Gladion sitting beside the tub, looking at her. «Slept well?» he asked her softly.

She just gave a soft smile, and a soft hum. «Somewhat...You should try it.» she muttered softly. Looking over at him. «How long have you been sitting there?»

«Long enough to wonder what you were doing, being unusually silent and all.» he replied.

«Unusually silent? What do you mean by that?» she asked, lifting her head up.

«You haven’t noticed it yourself? You start to sing whenever you take a bath, and it keeps going until you are done.» he replied. She blushed into a deep red, as it was the first time she had heard about it. «I like it though. Your voice is really pretty.» he added, murmuring it softly.

«Shush...» she muttered, being utterly embarrassed. He just chuckled softly and got up on his feet, walking out of the bathroom. «Gladion!» she shouted after him.

«Yeah?» he replied.

«Do you have an extra hanger that you don’t use?» she asked, thinking of hanging up her Kimono instead of folding it, which would just make nasty folding lines in the silk it was made of.

«Yeah. You need one?» he asked, walking over and looking into the bathroom, at her. 

«Yeah, i do...Only if you have one that is.»

«Got plenty. Why though?» he asked.

«Hanging up my kimono.» she flatly replied.

He just nodded, and told her that he would find one and put it beside her kimono for whenever she were done in the bath. She smiled softly and got up and out of the tub, wrapping herself in a towel before walking out, seeing him finding one in the closet. He found one and turned around, seeing her and handed it over to her. «Here you go. Why are you hanging i up though?» he asked.

«Alolan weather isn’t made for Kantonese clothes...» she muttered timidly.

She gave him a soft peck on his cheek before he walked out and downstairs again, she got over to the bed, starting, somewhat, to get her outfit up and ready to be stored away. Before she continued with the task, she decided to get on some of the new clothes, a pair of shorts and a halter top that fitted. Once dressed and putting her hair up in a ponytail, she continued to hang up the kimono, making sure it was hanging nicely and that there wouldn’t be any folds that would make some folding lines on it. After a while, she got it up and hanged it into the closet, in the corner where it would be out of the way from the rest. She put the new clothes away as well before going downstairs, joining Gladion on the couch, which ended up with cuddles for the rest of the day. Her just slightly laying there, with him on top, arms wrapped around her, lightly snoozing as she gently rubbed his back, making him give off a soft, content sigh.


	33. Stalker

The evening approached quickly, and after snuggling for a while, he sat up and let go of her. Giving off a light yawn, scratching the back of his neck, he looked over at her, who had fallen asleep herself. After they had gotten back from Malie, they ended up on the couch and seemingly falling asleep. Getting off the couch, he stretched his back and arms a little before facing her again, picking her up instead of waking her up. As he picked her up, she woke up with a light yelp. He chuckled softly as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

«What are you doing?» she asked in a husky voice.

«Rather late, and you were sleeping.» he replied, walking out of the living room.

Approaching the stairs, he carried her up. She didn’t say anything, letting him carry her up if he wanted to, leaning her head against his shoulder. Getting up to the second floor and into the bedroom, he sat her down on the bed. As she were sitting there, he told her that he would just lock the front door and make sure everything else were locked, to which she nodded at.

«I could have helped doing that, you know...» she muttered.

«Nha, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.» he said and walked out.

Luna just gave a soft sigh, looking around the room a little before she got up on her feet, stripping off her clothes and put them on a chair on her side. Gladion went down stairs again, locking the front door and walked around, checking the windows and the massive glass door that lead out to the garden. Looking out at it, he cringed a little, as his garden were quite dead looking. He knew Luna had some plans, but didn’t know if she ever would get anything started, considering it looked impossible to fix it. He checked the lock while giving off a soft sigh. Walking around the place, turning the lights off, he kept looking around. The place actually felt like a home for once, and not just a place were he were sleeping in. Luna had turned his house upside down, adding features like furniture and other ‘accessories’. He liked the feeling of a ‘home’ and not just a ‘house’, which made him smile softly before he walked towards the stairs, heading upstairs again.

Getting to the bedroom, he found Luna under the covers and already sleeping, so he silently closed the door and walked over, stripping off his clothes before getting under the sheets, scooting close to her and putting his arm around her. She slightly woke up from him getting close to her, so when he put his arm around her, she shifted her positing a little, getting comfortable again before she drifted off to sleep again. Gladion nuzzled into the base of her neck, closing his eyes. He didn’t fall asleep right away, but were listening to her soft breathing and the many, dull sounds that came from outside. A handful of birds flapping their wings, and a few other animals that just couldn't shut up for dear life. It was quite common around Tapu Village, so he didn’t mind it to much, though, he knew Luna had a hard time falling asleep the first month, which he lightly chuckled at when thinking about it. Giving her a light peck on her shoulder, he shifted his position a little before falling asleep.

**\----------**

While they were sleeping, Chad had followed after them since he saw then in the distance in Malie, right before they were to take on the routes over to Tapu Village. As he followed them, he couldn’t get over how she kept a smile on her face, generally looking happy, and that he wasn’t the one standing by her side, making her smile like that. Getting irritated by it, and even more obsessed over her. He kept his distance, listening to what they were talking about and how they talked. Her chipper voice just made him furious, to the point he had to stop, letting them walk off until he had calmed down a good portion. While staying behind, he kept looking over his shoulder, and couldn’t shake the anger off. Once they were out of his eyesight, he inhaled deeply a few times, letting the last one out with a loud sigh, getting back on ‘track’. Getting over to Tapu Village, he kept remembering that his bloodline were quite the obsessive ones, and fully knew it was a bad thing, but in the end, they all ended up with whoever they wanted.

_ As long as i get who i want… _

Ending at the village, he didn’t see them anywhere, and slowly approached their place. Looking inside a window at the side, out of view from everyone else, he saw Gladion in the living room, busy reading a book about something. He didn’t know what to do, so in the spur of the moment, he decided to just study the Alolan blonde, seeing if there would be anything he did that could be useful for taking him down when that time came to it. While reading, Gladion kept sighing, not really getting whatever that was written about the fire affinity spells, much less about the next ‘level’ of the affinity, for him, that would be lighting. Gladion quickly looked down at his palm, remembering the time when he actually did use a lighting spell, but didn’t know how, as he were sure that he didn’t say a specific spell. Making a fist, he shaked his head and looked down into the book again. Chad noticed and got even more curious as of why, only to remember that he did use a lighting spell once. The one time  _ he _ ruined his chance to get Luna forever. Chad felt the anger rise again, and had to look away for a second, as not to burn down the house. Gladion at the time took a quick look at the clock in the room, then looked up at the roof. He then looked rather suspicious and closed the book, getting up from the couch. Chad’s eyes got wide as he hid under the window, panicking slightly as he were sure that he was caught, and he sure didn’t want that.

Slightly peeking over the edge, he saw that Gladion walked out of the living room and started to head upstairs, which made him move quickly. The house being close to the mountain side, he climbed up to a spot where he could have, somewhat, a good view inside the hallway and their bedroom. He heard him chuckle lightly, asking if she had slept well. Listening to the conversation, he figured that she had nodded off in the bath.

_ She’s in there...probably nude...and he’s in there...looking at her… _

He growled loudly, to the point that he stopped and panicked, holding his hand in front of his mouth, muffling it, even though it wouldn’t help. Luckily they didn’t hear it, which made him sigh in relief. Getting a bit closer to the window, he looked more inside, seeing that Gladion were on his way out when Luna called for him, asking for a hanger. After the short conversation, he got one, and she walked out in nothing but a towel. Chad felt his face heat up, his jaw were dropping as Gladion found a hanger and handed it to her, as well as she gave him a quick peck on his cheek before he walked out. Chad kept looking at her, but once she started to strip of the towel, he looked away, being a blushing, flustered mess. He did sneak a look at her and got a glimpse of her bare back before looking away again in a hurry.

_ To soon…! To soon…! You ain’t mine yet...! Not mine yet... _

He looked down and at her again, while she finally got into her new clothes and did a few looks at herself in the mirror in the room before she started on her kimono. Gently placing the hanger in the main part of the outfit, she followed it up with the skirt part, as well as the long sleeves and the hoodie that followed. Making sure it was secure on the hangar, she walked over to the closet, pushing away a few of her other clothes before hanging it up. She made sure it was in the corner of the closet and out of the way. Chad were looking at her with rather the fascinated expression, as whatever she did were to graceful, at least to him. Every movement she did made her just more attractive to him, and more eager to get her. She put her hair up in a ponytail before putting the new clothes away into the closet, heading out of the room and downstairs.

Once she got out of the room, he hurried down the cliff. He went down so fast that he almost landed on his rear, but managed to land on his feet, just losing a little balance. Regaining his balance, he hurried over to a different window in the living room. She had joined him on the couch, sitting close to him while he had picked up the book again, looking down rather curiously.

«What are you reading about?» she asked.

«Nothing to important.» he replied and closed it, putting it on the table in front of them.

«Aww...» she muttered, making a fake pout.

He just smirked at her as she moved away from him a little, getting her feet up on the couch and leaning her back against the armrest. «What’s with the pout?» he muttered softly to her.

«You never tell me anything of what you are reading about...how come?» she asked, her voice sounding quite sulky.

He leaned towards her. «You sure that’s it?»

«Oh, please Gladion...» she sighed. «Seriously, i don’t mind...You can do whatever you want.» she added.

He hummed softly and crawled up to her, laying down onto her, placing his head on her chest. He proceeded to wrap his arms around her, closing his eyes while giving off a content sigh. Luna just rolled her eyes, moving slightly to get more comfortable and gently placed her arms on his back, gently running her hands up and down, tracing soft circles. He eventually snoozed of, which just made her smile and give a soft giggle. Chad were fuming at the sight and walked away. It was getting quite late, and he sure didn’t want to look even more suspicious and decided to get back to Malie before it became completely dark. He took a quick last look, which he knew would only make him even more furious. He looked at her face, seeing quite the content expression which made him feel a slight sting in his gut. Growling to himself, he stomped away, silently.

Been in Alola for two months, and around Gladion had made her see new sides of him. What she figured out first were that he loved cuddles, or just generally laying close to her, which she wound incredibly sweet. She didn’t know a lot about his past, other than what Lillie had told her, as she said that he probably would never tell her, the memories being to painful. Luna didn’t mind, as she could fully understand those feelings, being raised with an iron hand herself. She gave him a light peck on his head, muttering softly something in Kantonese, which he heard, but couldn’t make out what she said.

«Hmm?...What was that?» he murmured, not looking up at her, nor moving as he were quite comfortable.

She looked down at him with a surprised expression, but it turned quickly to a soft smile. «I didn’t say anything.» she replied.

He hummed softly as a reply. «If you say so...» He moved slightly, adjusting his arms under her and got comfortable again.

Chad had gotten over to Malie City again, and were on his way to the hostel. His breathing were quite irregular and heavy from the anger he kept within himself. Guzma and Plumeria were back in the city, as Guzma kept complaining that he were thirsty and needed to get something to drink. Plumeria were around to, as usual, to make sure he didn’t start up a fight or anything of the sorts. While he were inside the store, she kept an eye on him from the window, standing outside. Chad walked past her, and she looked over at him, sensing the rage from him. She just raised her eyebrow at him, wondering what that guy had been up to, getting as furious as that.

«Seems like someone have had a bad day...» she muttered to herself. Guzma got his bottle of whatever and opened it up as fast as he was outside, gulping down half of it. Plumeria just shaked her head in disbelief. «I can’t believe i’m still babysitting you...» she added silently, facepalming.

«Huh…? Sayin’ something?» he lightly growled at her.

«No.» she flatly replied.

They walked off, and he kept sipping on it on their way to Po Town. Plumeria couldn’t help herself as she kept looking over her shoulder, being curious about the guy that passed her in anger. She didn’t like the energy he radiated, which meant, for her, that he were up to nothing good.


	34. Riot

A few days passed, and Chad had been lurking around in Tapu Village for a while, and finally figured out when Gladion would be out of the place, possibly leaving Luna alone. Lillie had been there a day prior, asking for help since he was the tallest of the group, and Hau were going to be quite busy helping Hala with a few things for the coming festival. Gladion didn’t want to, but agreed anyway. Luna said that she would start on the garden while he were gone, as she had been planning that for a while. Gladion did ask her several times if she would be fine by herself, which she stressed to him that she would.

«I’ll be fine. There are more people around, so i won’t be all alone.» she said, gesturing to their neighbors, who were usually around, minding their own business.

He nodded and hummed softly. «If you say so.»

She patted his cheek lightly, smiling sweetly to him. «Don’t worry so much. I’ll be fine, Gladion.»

He just sighed. «You keep saying that...It just makes me more worried.»

She leaned up to him, giving him a soft peck. «You worry to much.» she said softly to him.

«That i do know, and i can’t help it.» he muttered softly.

After a little more of reassuring him that she would be fine, he left for, going over to Melemele, meeting Lillie at the marine. She didn’t tell him what she needed help with, only that she needed his help because he was the tallest one. Luna started to plan what she would be doing with the garden, it being quite dead looking as Gladion haven’t been doing anything with it, much less, kept it alive. Chad were lurking around, but as the front door opened and Gladion walked out, he hid himself to the best of his ability, watching him walk away. He knew that he were going to leave, but didn’t know if Luna would stay behind or tag along. Watching Gladion walk off alone made a grin appear on his face, looking over at their place, being sure that Luna were still around, doing whatever she wanted to do. As Gladion disappeared behind a corner, he got up from his hiding spot, walking over to the house, looking on through the windows until he found her. She were sitting at the dinner table, scribbling down whatever she wanted to do, and what she could start doing, without destroying the entire garden in one go. Chad didn’t know what he actually would be doing, now that he had been waiting for a while for this moment, his well thought out plan just didn’t work. He just kept watching her for a while.

She suddenly got up from the chair, taking the paper with her, as well as the pen, walking out to the living room and to the massive glass door there, looking out. She exchanged looks between the garden and the piece of paper, making sure for herself that she actually could do anything of the sorts, one thing at a time. Chad ducked under the window as she got up, panicking that she might have noticed him and seen him. Collecting himself as he noticed that she didn’t see him, he calmed down. He sat down, leaning his back against the wall, starting to go through the plan he initially had planned. He started to count seconds as to when he would start putting his plan in action. While he sat there, Guzma and Plumeria rounded the corner, heading into Tapu Village, as they were on their way to Malie, getting the ferry over to Akala to mess with some of the people there. Plumeria noticed him and stopped in her tracks, as Chad were rather busy thinking, so he didn’t notice that the two could clearly see him.

«What are you doing, kid?» she shouted over at him. Guzma stopped and looked behind him, thinking that she was talking to him and got ready to snarl at her, only to see her look in a different direction. Chad flinched and looked up at her with big eyes. Plumeria repeated herself, her voice more stern and serious. «Why are you hanging around one or friends place?» she added.

Guzma walked up to her, keeping his eyes at the kid. «Would you look at that...The kid from weeks ago.» he muttered.

«Kid from weeks ago?» she asked, looking dumbfounded up at Guzma.

«Yeah...The kid asked were mini edge were living and as the good citizen i am, i told him.» He replied, wanting to get praised.

She hit the back of his head lightly. «You idiot!! Why did you do that!? Can’t you see he’s lurking around their place!?»

The two started to argue, and Chad were just looking at them, not sure how to react. Luna had heard Plumeria shout the question at him, and she didn’t hesitate to find her Katana, walking up to the front door, and just stand there in silence, waiting. Chad just got up onto his feet, dusting off his pants and kept looking at them before he gave a soft laugh, that didn’t sit well with the two arguing. The two stopped and looked over at him as his laugh got more and more loud.

«Well ain’t you funny. Baka no taba...» he chuckled.

«Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny!» Plumeria hissed at him.

«You’re surprising them now?» Guzma asked, recalling that he said that he were going to surprise them, Gladion the most.

«Well...» he started. «The surprise if more for my girlfriend...» he said.

Plumeria got the shivers. «Girlfriend?...You mean Gladion’s gal, yeah?» she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

«No. Luna is my “gal”...Gladion just stole her from me...and i’m here to pick her up again, taking her with me back to Kanto.» he said.

Guzma and Plumeria exchanged looks, not sure how to react, as he sounded quite serious and the way he said it were rather creepy. Chad got away from the wall and got up on the porch, taking a firm grip on the door handle. He told them to watch as he were going to pick her up, not knowing that Luna had mentally prepared herself since she arrived in Alola, being too positive that he would end up finding her. As she heard the door handle rattle lightly, and the door started to open, she quickly unsheathed the Katana, pointing it at Chad as the door got wide open. Chad didn’t notice until the tip of the katana were touching his skin on his neck, looking abruptly in front of him, seeing a quite serious Luna. Guzma and Plumeria slightly panicked, as he just walked right in without knocking or anything, only to get surprised when Chad started to back off, and Luna walking forward, still keeping her Katana on his throat. Plumeria had seen her fair share of serious woman around in Alola, but Luna took that to a whole different level.

«Seems like the mini edge has been a bad influence on the gal.» Guzma muttered silently, loud enough for Plumeria to hear it.

«Get lost.» Luna snarled at Chad.

«Don’t be like that, Luna.» he said, raising his hands up, shrugging. «I’m just here to take you home.» he added.

«I’m already home.» she hissed, not backing off.

Chad didn’t like what he heard from her and scoffed. «Luna...» he lightly hissed. «Why can’t you just...»

«Just what?» she hissed. «Just walk away? Because that won’t happen...Not without a fight...» she added.

A few hours had passed, and Gladion were finally done with helping Lillie. She just needed help with a few shelves she had gotten, getting them up on the wall, and she were to short, as well as Hau weren’t around to do the work. He got quite irritated by it, thinking that it was something else she needed help with, as she put it in a way that he were the only one that could help her with the task. Lillie decided to follow him to the marine, but before they got there, one of the folks from Guzma’s gang ran up to him, panting rather heavily as he tried to tell him something. Gladion wasn’t impressed and just sighed.

«Calm down and just tell me already...» he hissed.

«Right...» he muttered and inhaled deeply. «Your gal is fighting...» he started. «And boy is she good...» he added shortly.

Gladion and Lillie just exchanged looks before looking at the guy again. «What the fuck do you mean…? Why is she fighting?» he asked, being sure that he’ll not like the answer.

«Boy...Some dude keeps claiming her as his girl. Your gal just had none of it and attacked.» he said, gesturing madly with his arms.

«The dude…?» His frown got more visible, and a light growl came from him. «Chad...» he growled and hurried past the guy, Lillie following after him, not what what was going on.

«Brother!! What’s going on!?» she shouted after him.

«Some idiot from Kanto!» he growled.

Lillie didn’t really get it, but as mad as he got, it had to be something serious. «What did he do?» she asked, wanting to know what had happened.

Getting to Hau’oli Marine and hurried onto a ferry over to Ula’ula. Gladion didn’t bother to get a seat, as he would just get off the ferry as quickly as possible. Lillie stood beside him, and asked him again what had happened. «The guy, who is named Chad...» he started, scoffing at his name while gritting his teeth. «...Assaulted her months ago...Twice even...» he hissed.

Lillie looked at him in horror. «What…?» she muttered in horror, not really sure what he did tell her. The look on his face were rather serious, so he had to be telling the truth. Knowing that, she didn’t ask anything else, other than to start feeling really bad for her, and hoping that she were fine, despite the guy telling them that she were fighting, and were quite good.

Guzma and Plumeria were literally hiding away from the fight, keeping an eye on it, and were quite surprised that the petite girl could keep him at a distance without much trouble. They knew she were from Kanto and that Kantonian’s were more into practice fighting spells and fighting in general, but never thought that included a weapon. Not noticing that Gladion and Lillie eventually arrived, taking in the sight of Chad firing off fire spells, and Luna dodging, countering them with a few light wind spells. As the two arrived, Chad took a few steps back, breathing heavily, while Luna were looking rather unfaced. Lillie looked over at her and noticed that she were holding a Katana and pointed it out, gasping. Guzma and Plumeria looked over at them and told them to get out of the way, as the two were sure to get hit.

Looking at them, standing there in silence. Chad kept muttering questions of why she were fighting, and just didn’t come along like she should. She didn’t reply, other than frowning more at him. She straightens up her position, sheathing her Katana, which surprised them all, but mostly Gladion, thinking that she just accepted that she would leave. Luna inhaled deeply, holding the Katana in front of her.

«I’m not holding back anymore...» she muttered softly.

She closed her eyes and softly muttered a spell that Gladion could clearly tell he haven’t heard before from her, and he had hear her mutter a lot of them before they got to Alola. Chad heard her mutter something and knew on the spot that he didn’t have a chance to dodge the attack.

He huffed lightly. «Seems like i lost big time...» he muttered.

She opened her eyes, and a quick, light glow appeared for a second when she quickly drew the Katana. The blade emitting a blue glow as she drew it and launched at him. Chad were taken aback on how quickly she ended up in front of him, in a mere blink of a second, meeting her eyes, which was rather serious looking, even more so now. Gladion and Lillie were taken aback on how quickly she launched at him, even though Chad managed to dodge as she swung the Katana at him, intentionally trying to hit him. Guzma and Plumeria were hiding more in horror, as they sure didn’t want to get hit by her, seeing how serious she just got. Chad kept dodging and doing his best to counter, but he couldn’t hold up as he didn’t have the same level of stamina as her, nor could he really predict her movements either. She kept launching at him, and he kept dodging, only getting a few scratches on his clothes if she managed to get close.

Chad managed to get a good jump back, muttering a powerful fire spell as a way to counter her. Luna started to feel the fatigue, as the spell she used were a powerful and heavy one. Hearing him mutter a spell made her reconsider going fully out, but for now, it was the only way as she took a stance, taking a small breather, calming her breath to an acceptable level for her before she launched again. Lillie and Gladion were watching, and were quite impressed, but didn’t really know how to react to it all. Watching her, it looked like she were dancing, her movements being so graceful. Guzma and Plumeria were watching in awe, but kept themselves somewhat hidden, as well as looking around the village, being impressed that the guy hadn’t set a house on fire yet, considering that he kept spamming fire spells for a while.

She took a stance, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down and not get overworked, as that would make the spell even more dangerous and she’ll most likely end up losing something about herself. Lillie then gasped as she figured out what spell Luna were using, tugging on Gladion’s sleeve.

«Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I can’t believe she’s using  _ that _ spell!» she exclaimed.

Gladion looked down at her. «What spell?» she asked. Guzma and Plumeria looked over at her, just as confused at Gladion were as he asked her.

«I have read so much about it lately!» she were literally jumping on her spot of excitement, as the books had told her that the spell were a dead one, and no one could pull it off.

«What spell!» The other three shouted at her in unison, exchanging glances before looking over at Lillie, waiting for a reply.

«It’s the spell of Lunala!» he exclaimed, clapping her hands. «A dead spell, so to speak.»

«Define dead!?» Gladion hissed at her.

«Luna is not dying!....I think...» she muttered. «The spell is so old that it’s been said that no one can pull it off, as most of the script of it is lost somewhere or destroyed.» she added.

Gladion didn’t hear the latter of what she said, and got horrified at what she said first. «You think…!?» he muttered, looking over at Luna who again launched at Chad as he fired of a spell towards her.

Luna had placed herself so the fire spell would go out to the sea when she stepped away, dodging it. She didn’t fully dodge it, as it managed to lightly strike her upper arm, which would definitely leave a scar for life on her. She couldn’t move to much, knowing that the spell she used were still fully active, and to release it, she needed to hit him. Properly. Chad stood there, looking at what he had done, making a wound on her, which definitely wasn’t his intention. In a state of shock, he didn’t notice that Luna took the opportunity to launch at him, swinging her Katana and managed to hit him. The four watching gasped in horror, thinking that Chad now were dead meat. Looking at Chad, who were quite confused at first and started to laugh, as he thought he would die from it, but the more he laughed, the more it went up for him. Luna walked off with the Katana on hand and Gladion ran up to her, just in time when she started to sink down to the ground, catching her right before she got to her knees.

«You okay?» he asked, looking at the strife wound Chad had given her.

«I’m fine...» she muttered, panting heavily.

Lillie then walked up to them, asking the same question and she just replied with the same answer she gave Gladion. Guzma and Plumeria exchanged looks and got over to Chad, but before they could get over to him, he muttered a spell in a hurry and fired it out in front of him, only for nothing to happen. Panic came over him as he continued, while nothing still came out of the words he spoke. They all looked over at him as Guzma and Plumeria got him up on his feet and dragged him with them, heading towards Malie. While the fight were going on, Gladion had told them the same thing he told Lillie on the ferry over, that he had assaulted her twice, which they found quite horrifying. Guzma then apologized for telling him were they were living, somewhat. Plumeria made him do it, as she were sure that he wouldn’t do anything of the sorts without her telling him and pushing him to do it. They got him and dragged him with them to Malie, finding out when the next ferry over to Kanto would get going, putting him on that. They sat with him until the ferry got there and ready to leave, as well as making sure that he didn’t get off again either.

Gladion helped Luna to get inside again, putting her on the couch in the living room. Lillie kept asking questions about the spell, being incredibly curious, not thinking twice of what had just happened. Gladion eventually hissed for her to leave, which she didn’t like but left after he had hissed at her for a few times. Luna did tell her whatever she could tell, without giving out to much information about it, the spell being a  _ ‘dead one’ _ as she had called it. When Lillie left, the curiosity got the better of him, and asked her himself. She replied with the same things as she told Lillie as he cleaned up the burn she had gotten, patching it up for her.

«What else is there to it? Apparently he lost his ability to use magic in general...Right?» Gladion questioned her. «What about you then?»

«He got stripped off of it, yes...And me? I don’t know...Not for sure until tomorrow at least.» she replied, giving off a soft sigh.

«What would most likely happen?» he asked, being worried for her.

«Most likely eh…?» she started, humming softly. «Most likely the same. Losing my ability to use magic in general. Though i can be wrong.»

«As long as you don’t die...» he muttered, a blush appearing on him while looking away from her. Luna just smiled softly, reaching for his chin and making him look at her. Their foreheads touched as she softly muttered that she wouldn’t die.

The time flew, and Guzma and Plumeria came over, telling them that Chad had left Alola, as they made sure of it. Gladion nodded and thanked them for telling him, as he would be telling Luna a bit later. The two then left for Po Town, leaving them be, while still being in awe of the petite girl. Gladion walked in to the living room again, finding her nodding off. It was early evening, and after a fight like that, he didn’t doubt her being tired after it. He got over to her and picked her up, which made her yelp slightly as she hurried to wrap her arms around his neck. He had already locked the front door after Guzma and Plumeria left, as well as there wasn’t anything else to do this evening.


	35. Kurên no Tamashî

The evening came quickly, and Gladion had picked her up from the couch, carrying her up to the bedroom, thinking that she wouldn’t manage to walk after a fight like that, considering that she used a powerful spell, according to her and Lillie. Luna didn’t say anything, and just wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling into him. Walking into the room, he placed her on the edge, kneeling down to her, just looking up at her. Luna met his eyes and could see that he were rather worried, thinking that she’ll probably be out for a week again once she falls asleep.

Luna just smiled softly, placing her hand on his cheek. «Sorry that i’m worrying you.» she muttered softly.

He just sighed, leaning into her hand. «Are you going to be out for a week or more now?» he questioned her.

«Maybe. Maybe not.» she replied. «You worried i’ll be out longer than a week?» she added.

«More or less.» he muttered. «Hopefully you won't...I really don’t want to experience that again.» he added, lightly shaking his head.

«I’ll be fine.» she muttered softly, leaning down to him, giving him a soft kiss.

He sighed again. «If you say so.»

She smiled sweetly to him. «Thanks for carrying me up though. You didn’t really have to.»

Gladion just smiled softly at her. «No problem.» he murmured.

He got up on his feet again and got over to the bedroom door, closing it. As he got up on his feet, she stripped off her clothes and got under the bed sheet, getting comfortable. Gladion got over to the other side of the bed and stripped down as well, getting in under the sheets and scooted closer to her. As he scooted closer, she turned towards him and snuggled up to him as he wrapped his arm around her.

«What kind of a spell did you actually use…?» he asked her, being rather curious about it, as Lillie kept going on it being a ‘dead spell’.

«It’s a so called ‘Spirit Spell’. It’s hard to use one, and does that a lot of time to learn. It’s even hard to use it right.» she replied softly.

«Spirit Spell? Is that something everyone actually can learn?»

«It is, but it’s hard to get right. Like i said, it’s a spell that’s hard to get right.» she muttered softly.

«I guess you know who used it right?» he asked, leaning back a little and looked down at her.

She hummed softly and nodded. «Lunala were the first, though, even she didn’t get it fully right.»

«And how did it affect her?» he asked, his curiosity taking over, wanting to know if it was something that Luna would be experiencing after using it.

«I don’t know to much about it...But she apparently halved her life after using it.» she said to him, a bit to calmly for him.

He lightly huffed in horror. «Don’t tell you just did that?!» he slightly hissed.

«I don’t know.» she quickly replied.

Gladion just looked horrified down at her, and couldn’t understand why she used a spell like that, knowing fully well that it could take half of her life in a mere second. As well as she knew she didn’t use it right, which just increased the anxiety of losing her within him. Knowing what she told him, he just pulled her closer to him, nuzzling into her forehead. Luna closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep, as the fight and the use of the spell had drained a lot of energy from her. Gladion kept holding her close to him as he slowly drifted off to sleep as well, occasionally jolting himself awake until the exhaustion got the better of him, falling asleep.

**\----------**

Lunala, at the time, were trying to perfect the spell, knowing fully well it was a work in progress. A  _ Spirit Spell _ that could only be used with a Katana, and would be able to strip it’s opponent off from the ability to hear, see or use magic. While working on it, she and Solgaleo had been married for a good two years, living on Akala Island. Solgaleo had been traveling between the islands, getting to know the new people that arrived after the majority of the war ended, starting a new life in a tropical region. Being quite well liked among the Alolans in general, it wasn’t too hard to get to know the new families. After he had been around for a while on Poni Island, he headed back to Akala, to his Lunala, who had diligently been working on the spell. She were also pregnant at the time, but they didn’t know, as it was still in the early stages. Getting back and into the house that were laying around Brooklet Hill, because she loved the view over the place, he didn’t hesitate to give her a home there when she arrived to Alola with him.

«Lunala...You in there?» he asked as he knocked on the door to her designated ‘office’.

«Yes, i’m in here.» she softly replied.

He opened the door and found her sitting there, hunched over a stack of papers. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing her as he could feel the tension from working to much. «You should take a break, love. It’s bad to overwork, though i admire your persistence.»

She at back in the chair, giving off a soft sigh. «Doesn't seem like i can get anywhere anymore anyway.» she muttered softly. She looked up at him and gave him a sweet smile, to which he smiled back at her.

«What are you naming the spell? You have been working on it for a while, and it’s only natural you then name it.» he asked her, moving his hands up to her cheeks, using his thumbs to caress her gently.

«Kurên no Tamashî.» she replied softly.

«And what does that mean?» he asked, chuckling softly.

«Why should i tell you? You won’t be able to use it anyway.» she murmured softly.

«Sneaky woman.» he muttered with a smile.

Lunala just gave him a playful wink. «Oh, you know it.» she said, followed by a soft giggle.

He chuckled softly, leaning down to give her a soft kiss. «What do you want for dinner today?» he asked her.

«Whatever you want to make. I’m not feeling picky today.» she replied, her smile still visible on her lips.

«If you say so. Don’t come and complain if it happens to be something you really didn’t want.» he added, his voice sounding quite stern.

Lunala just rolled her eyes. «I know that, and i’m not going to complain.» she replied.

«Like every other time…?» he added, smirking at her.

She puffed out her cheeks. «Do you want me to kick your ass?» she lightly growled at him.

A small pink color came to his cheeks. «Maybe~?» he replied, giving her a playful wink.

She just scoffed and sat up straight in the chair again, giving off a sigh. Solgaleo just laughed softly, giving her a soft peck on her cheek before he walked out, leaving her be until she figured she were done with looking over the papers a little more before ending her research for the day. While she were looking over her research more, he left to get groceries at the market, finding something new that he were sure that she haven’t tasted before, and one of his favourite dishes in Alola. Knowing that she were from Kanto and loves Sashimi and Sushi, he decided that he would make Poke, which was just the Alolan way of the raw fish dish.

Getting the things he needed, he headed back and started to prepare the dinner for the day. Lunala did know the basics of cooking, but Solgaleo loved to cook, so she just let him do it if he wanted to. She didn’t complain, as well as whatever he made, were always tasting good. Sitting in her office, she reached over for her Katana, got up from the chair and placed herself in the middle of the room. She didn’t mutter the spell, but were thinking about it, and how she would attach it to the blade of hers, making it more useful in a battle if necessary. The spell were to cut through a person, stripping them from an ability without harming them. The catch were the risk of the user of the spell, which she were working the most on. Not knowing how to properly use it could end up fatal, and she didn’t want that, not now, that she actually had a home, and a husband, who were a dork, but loved her. She unsheathed the Katana, looking down the blade, looking at the curve it had. She had named her Katana  _ Tsuki _ , after the time when she first got it from her parents. Her father had made it and spend a lot of sleepless nights to perfect it for her when she were young. She loved it, the item being a firm memory of her family, who were still living in Kanto, doing their own thing and living their life. She sheathed it again, and gave a soft sigh as she placed it back, beside the desk.

Fast forward a few months, and she had gotten a baby bump. And once she noticed the small bulge on her, as well as noticing that she were rather nauseous every morning, throwing up occasionally, asked for advice from Solgaleo’s parents, which just pinpointed to her that she were pregnant. Once she told Solgaleo, he acted like he had done a crime.

«What!?» he exclaimed, running his hands over his face. «Are you serious!?»

«Leo...Please...» she muttered.

«Oh my god...Oh my god! What have i done!? What have i done!?!?»

Lunala just kept looking at him, not getting why he was acting like it was the end of the world. He kept on going, asking the same questions all over, repeating himself which irritated her. It was definitely not the reaction she hoped for, but would make a good story in the future.

«Leo...» she repeated herself.

«What have i done…!? Oh my god!! Oh my god!!» he kept shouting, walking around the living room, in and out of the kitchen, with his hands on his head, looking quite panicked.

«Leo…?» she repeated herself again. He walked out to the kitchen, just to turn in the doorway, walking back towards her. He was about to turn around again. «Solgaleo!!» she growled at him, slamming her fist onto the table, making him flinch and stop, looking over at her with big eyes.

She gestured for him to come over and sit down beside her. He obliged and walked over, hesitating greatly before he sat down beside her. He sat down, and she took his hands, giving them a light squeeze and asked him why he were panicking, as she weren’t going to die by being pregnant.

«B-b-but...» he started, stuttering it. «I-i’ve ruined you...I have ruined you...oh my god...i have ruined you...» he muttered to her.

«Ruined me? What are you talking about? You haven’t ruined me.»

He gave a soft whine, biting his lower lip. «I have...I have ruined you now...Why are you telling me that i haven’t? Because i have...» he said, looking her up and down.

She just sighed and shaked her head. «No, you definitely have not ruined me.» she told him. She let out a deep sigh, hanging her head a little before looking back up at him. «Why are you even saying that?»

«B-b-because you are so beautiful...» he softly muttered, whining it to her.

The reply he gave her took her off guard. Once it went up for her what he said, she became beet red, smiling sweetly at him. She then kept explaining to him that she wasn’t ruined, and it wasn’t his fault. The more he listened to her, the calmer he got, and more excited, knowing that he would be a father in a few months. After the long talk, Lunala decided to walk around Brooklet Hill a little, taking in the sight and just getting some fresh air. As she got ready to walk out, Solgaleo got over to her and stressed it for her.

«I’m still pretty sure that i have ruined you!» he said, pointing at her, before disappearing into a room. Lunala just shaked her head in disbelief, being sure that he would think that through the entire time she were pregnant. At least he liked the thought of being a father, which excited him and was something that made his eyes sparkle when it went up for him. As she finally got out and closed the door behind her, she heard him loudly.

«YES!! I’M GOING TO BE A DAD!! WOOHOO!!» He shouted once he realized that she were out of the house. Lunala just facepalmed, shaked her head and sighed before she started to walk off and more into Brooklet Hill.

_Dork..._


	36. The Hunter and The Crane

Months passed since the fight between Luna and Chad, and life had been pretty generous. Gladion were relieved that she didn’t end up in a coma-like state again, which was the thing that worried him the most. What did change was that she lost half of her ability to use magic. The only magic she could use was the healing kind that her clan were known for, but lost everything else. She knew something would happen, but not that it would happen that quickly, merely two days after the fight, and it came as a light shock. It came so quickly on her that she almost shut down, going into a depressive state and not knowing what she would be doing anymore, and feeling rather useless. Luckily Gladion were around to help her through that, even though it came as a shock for him as well, though, he couldn’t even imagine what it would be like.

Lillie had heard and been, as usual, visiting. For the past few months, it was to keep Luna on other thoughts than the loss of her ability to use magic. Luna had been planning to start on the garden, and she did. It was the one thing that managed to keep her mind ahead, at least until she got over it. She had also joined Lillie at Malie Library, as Lillie wanted company whenever researching for something, and Luna took the time to get to know Alola, through books. Starting with the war, she read herself through the entire lore, which she found quite interesting. Gladion had been quite busy helping Nanu out with different things around the island, as well as his mind had been very busy.

They had known each other for around two years, and together for at least one and a half pretty soon. He was highly considering taking the next step, but the only thing stopping him was her, as he didn’t know how she felt about being around in Alola after losing her ability to use magic. Keeping his thoughts to himself made him quite irritable, and Luna noticed, starting to wonder if she were a burden now that she only could use healing magic. Lillie had noticed as well and several times taken him to the side, asking what was going on, to which he told her that nothing was going on. It only increased his anxiety to ask her whenever Lillie told him that Luna had noticed his irritable behavior, and were worried. After debating a lot with himself, he eventually decided to do it. She had mentioned that she wanted to visit Poni Island, and would take advantage of that time, while walking around with her to explore the island to her heart's content.

It was quite the warm autumn night this day, and Luna wanted to take on the trip over to Poni Island. They got ready, and started to head over to Malie City, getting themselves on a ferry over. It has been a while since Gladion had been there himself, but knew where most of the sights were around the island. He were also quite nervous, and he hated the feeling. Getting into the terminal, getting tickets for the ferry and had to wait a while until it arrived and got ready to leave again. While waiting for the ferry get to Malie, they decided to walk around the city, just looking and getting something to drink while walking around. Luna kept walking a few feet in front of him through the streets, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, just watching her walk off as usual with her soft movements. He got somewhat lost in thought, and when Luna looked over her shoulder, at him, she just smiled sweetly. He just gave her a soft smile back to her.

Walking around the streets for a while, they got back to the terminal, getting on the ferry and found their seats. Once they sat down, Luna noticed that he were acting a bit strangely, and asked if something were wrong.

He looked over at her and shaked his head. «Oh...No. I don’t know...Probably getting sick or something.» he told her, lying straight to her face to avoid any other questions, though it more likely raised new ones.

«Oh? We can postpone going to Poni. I’m in no hurry.» she replied, sounding slightly worried.

«It’s fine. You have been wanting to do this for a while anyway.» he said, giving her a reassuring smile.

Luna nodded. «If you say so...But don’t hesitate to tell me if you feel worse, okay?»

He hummed softly and nodded. «I won’t.» he quickly replied to her.

The ferry eventually got going, and Luna leaned onto him, laying her head on her shoulder, as Gladion had told her that the ferry ride over would take a while, since Poni was across the ocean from Ula’ula. She snoozed off rather quickly, which gave Gladion some time to go through the ‘script’ in his mind, making sure that he were prepared for whenever he decided to go for it. Reaching for her hand, he placed his on top of hers, gently running his thumbs over her skin. Gladion were awake the entire trip, as he were gradually getting more nervous as they approached Poni, and as they got to Seafolk Village, he gently woke her up. She woke up and blinked a couple of times, rubbing her eyes lightly before stretching her back.

«Good nap?» he asked, doing his best to sound normal.

«Good enough.» she replied, giving him a smile.

They got up and got of the ferry, and started by looking around Seafolk Village. Luna had heard a lot about the village, as well as been reading a lot about it, but it was something completely different in person. Much bigger than she anticipated it would be, which surprised her. Gladion just softly smiled at the surprised expression she got while looking around, keeping his hands in the pockets of his jacket. They kept walking around the village a little before moving over to Poni Wilds and Ancient Poni Path. Taking the paths slowly, they ended up in front of Vast Poni Canyon, Luna got curious of what could be behind the massive canyon.

«What’s beyond the canyon?» she asked, looking over at Gladion.

«Altar of Sunne is at the other end.» he replied. «You want to check that out?» he asked her.

She smiled softly. «It wasn’t on my agenda, but if we may?»

«Sure. We don’t have anything else to do either.» he replied and walked up to her, as he had been standing a few feet away, being nervous if she would sense that he were nervous.

She linked her arm with him, knowing that she would get lost if not. As she did, he flinched and she noticed. «Oh my god...Did i scare you?» she asked him.

«I’m sorry...» he muttered. «Come on...Let’s get through the canyon before it starts to get dark.» he said before taking a hold of her hand and starting to walk into the canyon.

Luna yelped in surprise as he quickly took a hold of her hand and started to drag her with him. She had noticed that he weren’t himself, and had asked him once, but other than that, she didn’t know anything. He were quite flustered, his cheeks being quite red, but as they entered the cave it was quite hard to see the redness on his cheeks, the cave system being quite dark. After walking inside the cave system for a while, he finally slowed down, but kept her hand tightly in his. Starting to just take their time through it and not rushing it, as that could be dangerous in itself, and that got him slightly frustrated on himself, as he just barged in with her, not thinking clearly. Luna didn’t mind, as she didn’t know what were around, nor what could happen if any of them took the strong step.

Finally getting through, they stood in front of the massive stair up to the altar, which discouraged Luna a little, but it would be a shame to go back after finally getting around to see the place.

«It’s a bit of a walk up, which is why we hurried through the canyon and it’s cave system’s.» he explained to her.

«Oh, okay.» she muttered softly, looking up at the top of the stairs, seeing something that could be a part of the altar.

Gladion started, and Luna followed his lead, starting to take on the trip up the stairs. It took a while, as well as Luna figured out how unfit she actually were, needing a break once in a while. Stopping at the top, both panting heavily. Luna hunched over, her hands placed on her knees as she lightly gasped for her breath.

«Shit...i’m in a really bad shape...» she muttered.

Gladion chuckled lightly. «You are not the only one.» he replied, catching his breath again as well.

«You are in a better shape than i am...i can hear it.» she muttered lightly. Once she had caught her breath again, she straightens up her posture and looked around, looking up at the massive structure in front of her. «Woah...Sugoi...» she muttered lightly.

Gladion had managed to calm down a little, just watching her hesitate while walking up to the altar and started to go through the script in his head again, and debating if he should just got for it or not, as well as the anxiety of what she would answer him came to mind, making him panic and swallow thickly as he looked up at her, walking around on the surface of the altar, just generally looking around and taking in the sight, and the view of the rest of Alola, which could be seen from here. While she kept looking around, Gladion hesitated and they eventually left the altar, getting down before it became too dark to get through the canyon. Gladion started to feel bad, feeling like that was the only chance he had and he screwed up, big time. Feeling quite disappointed in himself as they got through the canyon, ending up at Ancient Poni Path again, and started to head over to Poni Plains. He wasn’t feeling nervous anymore, nor panicked, just utterly disappointed in himself as they walked through the plains, heading towards Poni Meadow.

He haven’t been around the meadow in years, and could barely remember what it looked like when they got over to the place, finding the purple flowers hanging gently from the trees that were surrounding the place, making the entire place cast a soft, but dark purple color on its surroundings. Luna turned towards him as they walked, her starting to walk backwards, while asking him questions about the place. He replied, rather flatly at her.

«It’s been a while since i have been here.» he muttered, looking around.

«Aww, that’s upsetting. It’s quite beautiful around here.» she said, looking around, still walking backwards. She got close to one of the trees, and some of the flowers gently brushed over her shoulder, making her yelp, jumping towards him.

Gladion flinched and caught her in his arms, quite surprised and rather a bit spooked. «What? What happened?»

She looked around herself a little before over her shoulder, seeing the vine of flowers lightly swaying in the air. She sighed in relief and gave a nervous chuckle. «Heheh...Just some flowers...» she muttered.

«Oh my god...» he muttered, looking rather unimpressed at her. «Seriously…? That spooked you?» he asked.

«I’m sorry!» she exclaimed, blushing into a deep red color.

They calmed down a little bit before continuing around the meadow, only for Gladion to remember a hidden place he found years ago, before he started to live by himself in Tapu Village. He gently took her hand in his and guided him with her, hoping that he were remembering it right. Luna didn’t know where they were going and just followed his lead while looking around, getting through the trees and the flowers, at least until they ended up at a small hidden location. Gladion nodded to himself as it was just as he could remember it. Luna peeked over his shoulder, looking around.

«I used to hide here a lot...» he muttered, slightly embarrassed by it.

«Ooh~.» she muttered softly. «How come?»

«I just needed to get away from things i guess...can’t really remember why.» he added timidly.

He nodded for her to go ahead, take a look if she wanted to, which she did, passing him and walking over. Gladion followed behind her, standing beside her while taking in the sight that he had forgotten about his ‘secret hideout’ from his younger years. He would usually lay down and look up at the sky, which was still quite visible, as the trees and the flowers haven’t covered it up throughout the years. Sitting down on the grass, Luna followed him, sitting down beside him. The soft breeze were gently going through the flowers, making loose petals loosen from their flowers and fall down around them. Watching the surroundings, Gladion glanced over at her, meaning it for only to be a quick look, but ended up looking only at her. Luckily she didn’t notice that he were staring at her for a while, fiddling with the velvet box in his pocket.

_ Now or never… _

He sat up a little more, feeling his heart starting to race, and again, getting really nervous, to the point that he were sure he would pass out any second. Slightly turning towards her, he kept his one hand in his pocket, swallowing thickly, as well as slightly starting to shiver from being so nervous.

«Luna…?» he started, pausing a little.

She hummed softly in response, not looking over at him as the soft breeze made a small purple flower fly down into her palm. «Yes?» she replied softly, blowing the flower out of her palm, making it drift towards the small river that were a few feet in front of them.

He inhaled deeply, letting it out with a silent sigh, finding the small velvet box, looking at it a little before clenching his fist tightly. He opened his mouth in an attempt to say something, but nothing came out and he quickly closed it again.

_ Fuck my life… _

«What is it?» she then asked softly, as she thought he took a bit too long to say anything.

He flinched as she asked him and he in a hurry asked her, only for it to come out to fast for her to even catch what he was saying. He placed his hand over his mouth and became beet red, hanging his head, thinking that he definitely messed that up. For life. Luna just looked at him with big eyes, tilting her head  a little to the side as she didn’t catch it, looking quite confused at him as he were a blushing mess.

«What was that? I didn’t catch that...» she said, smiling softly at him.

He inhaled deeply, swallowing thickly as he, somewhat, managed to collect himself a little again. «I was just...wondering...if you...» he started, pausing.

«Hai…?» she muttered softly, tilting her head a little more to the side.

«Luna...» he started up again, taking another deep breath. «Will you marry me?» he managed to get out, without stuttering.

Luna’s eyes got wide, and her hands automatically went up and covered her mouth in surprise. Her expression quickly soften, while Gladion were looking at her, still being a nervous wreck while waiting for her reply. She started to nod lightly. Gladion just watched her, not sure what to believe as he saw her lightly starting to nod.

«Yeah…?» he muttered, his eyes being as wide as they could get.

«Yes!» she exclaimed loudly and threw herself over him.

He caught her and fell backwards, her arms wrapped around his neck tightly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, not really sure what he was feeling while laying there, holding around her, looking up at the sky. His shocked and surprised state slowly faded, and a smile slowly appeared on his lips, tightening the grip around her. She were slightly wiggling her body, not being able to contain her excitement. Calming down a few notches, they both got up, letting go of each other. Luna had the biggest smile on her face, as well as Gladion when he opened the velvet box he had on hand, revealing quite the expensive ring, which made Luna gasp loud, holding a hand over her mouth. Gladion chuckled softly as he took it out, and gently took her hand in his, gently sliding the ring onto her finger.

She looked at it a little closer and squealed a little before she threw herself over him again. This time Gladion were more or less prepared for her to throw herself at him again, and caught her without falling back. Only then he came to remember the words she said the first time they shared a kiss.

_ «A deal is a deal.» _ he muttered lightly. Luna pulled back, looking at him in surprise.  _ «No turning back now.» _ he finished.

Luna giggled softly. «Seems like you figured out what that meant.»

«I guess.» he replied to her.

She smiled softly at him. «Seems like the  _ Hunter _ ...» she started.

«...Found his  _ Crane _ .» he finished the sentence for her.

He reached for her chin and slightly lifted it up, locking their lips passionately. They ended up staying for a while there, enjoying each others presence while listening to the leaves as the soft breeze gently go through them and the flowers, making more petals loosen from their place and gently fall down around them. After it became dark, they did stay for a while longer, knowing that there would be a ferry going over to Ula’ula at a later time. The moon eventually peeked out from a cloud, illuminating the place around them, making it look like the flowers gave a slight glow. They were laying down and she were slightly laying on top of him, gently tracing his lawline, which she knew he liked, and kept it going for a few hours while laying around.


End file.
